Recent events, however, call the sustainability of Kuwait’s political order into question. On May 10, the emir, Meshal Ahmed al-Jaber, dissolved the National Assembly. This was just five weeks after a snap election, called in response to the emir’s previous dissolution of the legislature, had returned an opposition majority. And unlike previous dissolutions, the one on May 10 came accompanied by the suspension of several constitutional articles that would mandate new elections within two months. It’s now possible that Kuwait will not have a legislative branch for the next four years, during which the emir will rule by decree.
Kuwait’s autocratic neighbors have either said nothing in response to these developments or implied approval. This was to be expected: For them, less democracy is better. Less understandable is the Biden administration’s stance. So far, it has made no public expression of concern, let alone condemnation. This is what a State Department spokesperson told us: “We are aware of the developments regarding the Kuwaiti parliament suspension. The Emir has spoken publicly about this issue in a televised address.”
This is no routine issue. Since Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961, there have been just two prolonged suspensions of the national assembly, in 1976 and 1986. Between 1992 and last month, parliamentary life — boisterous, messy and vibrant — had continued essentially uninterrupted.
To be sure, Kuwait faces economic stagnation stemming from its inability to diversify an oil-centered economy. After the death of his predecessor in December, the new emir immediately signaled impatience with what he saw as a gridlocked parliament’s role in exacerbating that problem. He dissolved parliament in February, citing “unrestrained, insulting language” from the body. April’s election — the fourth in four years — produced a body that was no more compliant. A majority opposed the government’s reappointment of a member of the royal family as defense minister. Parliament would have also had to approve the selection of a new heir apparent to the throne. The opposition — which includes Islamists, liberals, populists and members of the country’s Shiite Muslim minority — is united on little but the need for an autonomous, and possibly more powerful, legislature.
In a televised address announcing the suspension of parliament, the emir insisted he would not allow democracy to be “exploited to destroy the state.” He lambasted parliamentarians for “unacceptable verbal battles.” During the years-long suspension, the emir explained, the democratic process would be studied and revisions proposed, followed by “whatever decisions we might deem appropriate.”
Such remarks sound worryingly similar to what any number of would-be autocrats have said when annulling election outcomes, in the Arab world and elsewhere. Meanwhile, former parliamentary candidate Musaed Al-Qarifa, who called for cabinet ministers to be popularly elected, has been sentenced to four years in prison for challenging the emir’s authority. This month, former parliamentarian Abdullah Fahad was sentenced to six months in prison for insulting the judiciary. We do not necessarily support the political ideologies these opposition figures espouse.But, in a free society, they have a right to peacefully express them.
Governance is far from optimal in Kuwait’s semi-democracy. Parliaments have made it difficult for the executive branch to get much done. Ordinary Kuwaitis have found themselves frustrated by politicians’ inability to agree on economic reform. In an Arab Barometer survey earlier this year, 41 percent of Kuwaitis agreed with the statement that “democratic regimes are indecisive and full of problems” — up from the 27 percent who said the same in 2018. Still, an overwhelming majority — 85 percent — also agreed that “democratic systems may have problems, yet they are better than other systems.” Kuwait’s government should heed these sentiments. So, too, should its friends and allies, starting with the nation that sacrificed so much to liberate Kuwait three decades ago.
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