Islamists win big against ruling party in Kuwaiti elections

As in Egyptian elections Islamist parties in Kuwait did very well in recent elections. A bloc of Islamist parties won a large majority of 34 of 50 seats in the National Assembly. There is just one legislative chamber in Kuwait.

The bloc is a combination of harder line Salafists and the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood representatives. The majority is large enough to prevent the prime minister who is appointed by the monarch to block legislation through the 15 members of the cabinet he appoints. Even if he appoints no existing MPs the Islamists will still hold a 34 to 31 lead.

Although the Kuwaiti parliament is in theory more powerful than those in other area monarchies in practice any attempts to exert real power are sometimes thwarted by royal action. The Islamist parties have pushed for anti-corruption measures and also introduction of Sharia law. Attempts by the legislature to pass laws against corruption led the Emir to dissolve the parliament in 2008. The emir claimed that the members were misusing their power. Corrupt politicians always worry about other politicians curbing their corruption! For more see this article.