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Kuwait Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Kuwait
Official Name: State of Kuwait
Capital: Kuwait City
Area: 17,820 square kilometres ( 6,880 square miles )
Major cities (Population): Kuwait City 1,090,000 (1995)
Population: 1,547,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: -6.5 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Nominal constitutional monarchy
Independence: 19 June 1961 (from the United Kingdom)
Constitution: 11 November 1962 (some provisions suspended since 29 August 1992)
Voting Rights: Adult males who resided in Kuwait before 1920 and their male descendants at age 21
NOTE: Only 10 per cent of all citizens are eligible to vote; since 1996, naturalized citizens who do not meet the pre-1920 qualification but have been naturalized for 30 years are eligible to vote.
Government
Under the 1962 constitution, Kuwait’s government is headed by a hereditary emir, who appoints the prime minister and council of ministers. Legislative power is vested in an assembly, made up of 50 people elected to four-year terms. The electorate, made up of literate, adult males born in Kuwait, presently constitutes only 10 per cent of all citizens. There are plans to extend the number eligible to vote in 1996 to include those males who have been naturalized citizens for 30 years. The emir frequently used his power under the constitution to dissolve the assembly and rule by decree. During Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait (August 1990–February 1991), the emirate was abolished, and a government in exile was established in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The Kuwaiti government returned in March 1991. Political opposition exists today in several forms, but political parties are banned.
Recent History
After the Iran–Iraq war ended in 1988, Iraq revived a long-standing territorial dispute with Kuwait over borders and over the islands of Bubiyan and Warbah, and claimed that overproduction of petroleum by Kuwait was injuring Iraq’s economy. Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. They rapidly took over the country, and reportedly committed many human-rights abuses. The invasion was condemned by the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the Arab League (AL), which continued to support the exiled emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, as Kuwait’s legitimate ruler.
During the Persian Gulf War, a coalition of forces—chiefly from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States—succeeded in liberating Kuwait by late February 1991. Problems facing Kuwait in the post-war period included inadequate supplies of food, fresh water, and electricity; hundreds of oil-well fires ignited by the retreating Iraqis; environmental damage from burning wells and deliberately spilled oil; demands by resistance leaders who had remained in Kuwait for a greater share of political power; and enmity between Kuwaitis and Palestinian residents, some of whom were accused of collaborating with Iraqi occupation forces. By early 1992 the fires had been put out, and most Palestinians had fled the country.
In October 1994 Iraqi troops assembled along the Kuwaiti border. The UN condemned the deployment and adopted a resolution demanding Iraq’s immediate withdrawal. On 10 November 1994 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein officially recognized Kuwait’s sovereignty and its borders.
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