Kuwaitis vote amid disputes over subsidies

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Kuwaitis vote Saturday to elect the seventh parliament in a decade in the oil-rich Gulf emirate, at a time of sharp disputes over subsidy cuts due to falling oil revenues. The snap polls see the return of opposition groups after a four-year boycott in protest at the government’s amendment of the electoral law.

Opposition candidates called at their election rallies for wide democratic reforms, promising to fight for economic and social justice and to end rife corruption. The government’s austerity measures, mainly hiking petrol prices, were the top issue at election rallies.

"The government will most likely accede to some of the demands of the opposition," but stand firm on others, Stratfor, a leading intelligence platform, said in a report. 

"The country has the financial luxury of taking a long-term view on reform. Even if it continues to draw down its sovereign wealth fund by $30 billion a year for 10 years, it would still have roughly half the fund left," Stratfor said.

Analysts see little hope the election will bring political stability to the Gulf state, which has been rocked by lingering disputes since mid-2006, apart from a period of relative calm after 2013.

The emir dissolved the last parliament after MPs called for ministers to be grilled over subsidy cuts, in a state with a traditionally generous cradle-to-grave welfare system. Around 30 opposition figures, out of 300 candidates, including 14 women, are running for the 50-seat parliament. Half of the opposition candidates are Islamists.