Kuwait votes for parliament amid economic and coronavirus challenges

KUWAIT CITY —  Kuwait began voting Saturday for its National Assembly, the first election since the death of its longtime ruling emir at a time the oil-rich nation struggles with serious economic problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This tiny country’s hundreds of thousands of voters will select lawmakers for 50 seats in the parliament. However, Kuwait’s parliament has tamped down opposition to its ruling Al Sabah family since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that saw demonstrators storm the chamber.

Parliaments typically don’t serve out their full terms in Kuwait, but this one did.

Kuwaitis are voting at 102 schools across the country the size of New Jersey. Authorities said masks and social distancing would be required due to the pandemic. Several schools will allow those with active cases of the virus to vote, with the sick first receiving permission from the government to participate in person.

The vote comes after the death in September of Kuwait’s ruler, the 91-year-old Sheik Sabah al Ahmed al Jabbar al Sabah. Sheik Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah, 83, quickly took power without opposition. The outgoing parliament then approved Sheik Nawaf’s choice for crown prince, Sheik Meshal al Ahmad al Jaber, the 80-year-old deputy head of Kuwait’s National Guard.

The new parliament will need to make decisions on a number of matters, perhaps none more important than Kuwait’s economy.

This fall, the ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Kuwait for the first time in its history. The finance minister warned that the government soon wouldn’t be able to pay salaries. Kuwait’s national bank said the country’s deficit could hit 40% of its gross domestic product this year, the highest level since the financial devastation of the 1990 Iraqi invasion and subsequent Persian Gulf War.

With crude oil prices having plummeted to just above $45 a barrel, other nearby Arab states took on debt, trimmed subsidies or introduced taxes to sustain their spending. Kuwait, however, did none of that.

That’s not to say Kuwait will be begging for aid at international summits anytime soon. The Kuwait Investment Authority holds assets of $533 billion, according to the Las Vegas-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, making it the world’s fourth-largest such fund.

The problem is Kuwait has no legal framework to deficit-spend beyond its current limit of $33 billion. It needs the country’s parliament to grant approval. But lawmakers probably will face a popular backlash as the public fears the money will be lost to corruption amid a series of high-profile cases shaking the country.

Kuwait has the world’s sixth-largest known oil reserves. The country also hosts some 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of U.S. Army Central.