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By Omar Hasan, Agence France-Presse
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaitis voted on Saturday to elect
a new parliament calling for change in this oil-rich Gulf state,
where the previous assembly was dissolved amid political feuding.
The early election was held after Emir Sheikh
Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament in March for the second
time in 22 months over a standoff between the government and the
house.
Polling stations closed at 1700 GMT, 12 hours
after voting began. Votes were to be counted manually and results
expected in the early hours of Sunday. Turnout was not immediately
available but state-run Kuwait TV and private stations reported that
it was more than 75 percent among men and slightly above 50 percent
for women.
Twenty-seven women were among 275 candidates who
ran for the 50-seat parliament, after a campaign which focused on
ways to end political wrangling and put the wealthy OPEC state back
on the track of development.
I voted for a new face that was not in
parliament before and whom I think has new ideas, Fatima Mubarak,
a young housewife, told Agence France-Presse after casting her
ballot in Jabriya district, 12 kilometers south of Kuwait City.
We are fed up with political crises which
halted any achievement. We are fed up with lots of talk and no
action, she said, adding that I voted for change and
achievement.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad
al-Ahmad al-Sabah toured a number of polling stations and said he
hoped that women, taking part in the polls for only the second time,
will enter parliament.
No female candidate won a seat when women voted
and stood for office for the first time in the June 2006 legislative
ballot.
Women voters outnumber their male counterparts,
representing 55.4 percent of the electorate. At a polling station
for men in Qadsia district, one retired voter said he wanted a fresh
start for Kuwait.
I voted for four new candidates. I want to
see change to serve the interests of the country. Disagreements
between parliament and government undermined our interests,
65-year-old Hussein Ahmad Yussef told AFP.
Candidate Aseel al-Awadhi, a US-educated
university professor backed by the liberal National Democratic
Alliance, said she believes people will vote for change.
I believe Kuwaiti voters will vote for change
and I can see a general tendency toward change, Awadhi told
Agence France-Presse.
The election was held under a new system in
which the number of constituencies was cut from 25 to five, a demand
which united the opposition in the last polls.
The Kuwaiti people are tired of crises... We
are concerned about the future of democracy if the new parliament
and government fail to cooperate, said former MP Abbas al-Khudari,
A Shiite who is seeking re-election.
Seven Sunni and Shiite Islamist, liberal and
nationalist opposition groups fielded some 45 candidates and backed
20 others.
Kuwaiti tribes half of the electorate
fielded around 35 candidates.
Thirty-eight members of the outgoing parliament
and 14 from previous parliaments were seeking re-election.
Segregated voting took place at 94 polling
stations in schools, 47 each for men and women.
About 361,700 people, excluding military
personnel, are eligible to vote in a country with a native
population of just over one million. The voting age is 21.
Analysts have predicted that more than half of
the outgoing MPs will lose their seats, but Sunni Islamists and
tribal conservatives are expected to retain their majority.
Parliament, elected for a four-year term, has
legislative and monitoring powers and can vote ministers out of
office but it can not bring down a whole cabinet. Unelected
ministers become ex-officio members of the house.
-- AFP
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