The Constitutional Court: A New Threat to Kuwaiti Democracy

Last month, Kuwait’s constitutional court dissolved the parliament (which was elected in February 2012) saying the procedures followed by the Emir when he dissolved the previous parliament were not constitutional and thus his call for new elections was also not legal. The parliamentary majority (consisting of the Popular Bloc and their Islamist allies) were enraged by the ruling which they described political and a coup against public choice. Pro-government groups and liberals, on the other hand, complimented it as it shows Kuwait as a law-abiding state protected by its higher judiciary court.

* Continue reading in Al-Akhabr's "The Subaltern" blog.

A Youth-Coup Against the Kuwaiti Opposition

Since 2009, young Kuwaiti activists have been the ones leading protests and calls against former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed and accusing him of corruption. These young leaders were criticized last year for allowing opposition MPs (conservative and Islamist) to take over their movement for their own political interests.

They did not respond to the comments and instead campaigned for those MPs, and were expecting to see reforms led by the MPs who formed the majority of Kuwait’s parliament. The parliament was elected last February but was dissolved last month by the constitutional court for wrong procedures in the previous parliament’s dissolving decree issued by the Emir.

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Liberals without Liberalism: The Kuwaiti Example

In the 2011 year of protesting against former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed, Kuwaiti liberals were many times accused of being passive towards the corruption of al-Mohammed in fear of the raising power of the conservative Popular Bloc and its Islamist allies. These accusations might not be totally warranted in the light of last year’s events considering the Liberal voting inside the parliament against the prime minister and their participation in several rallies and protests. The Liberal youth openly criticized their representatives for not being able to lead the opposition movement the way tribal Islamists have done. However, the accusation against liberals might be true in the light of the latest events.

* Continue reading this post in Al-Akhbar