Major Political Crisis Averted As Minister Survives No-Confidence Vote

VOL. XLV

No 27

8-July-2002

KUWAIT

Major Political Crisis Averted As Minister Survives No-Confidence Vote

The eruption of a major political crisis in Kuwait was averted on 3 July when the Finance Minister, Yusif al-Ibrahim, narrowly survived a motion of no-confidence. The government had said it would resign if Mr Ibrahim lost the vote. In the event, out of 48 deputies present, 22 voted against him, three abstained, and 23 voted for him. The minister over recent weeks has come under intense pressure from the Islamic and Popular blocs in the National Assembly which have accused him of wasting public funds and withholding information.

Even though the threat of government resignation has passed, the political crisis in Kuwait is continuing, with decision-making at the executive and legislative levels of government frozen. Disputes within the ruling Sabah family are being aired in public. There is also increasing criticism of the failure of the family to hand over power to the younger generation. At the same time there is a rift between the cabinet and the National Assembly, and deep divisions within parliament itself. 'Amir al-Tamimi, Managing Director of the United Industries Company and President of the Kuwait Economic Society, said in an article in the Sharjah daily al-Khaleej on 30 June that parliament’s questioning of Mr Ibrahim had shown “the extent that the political system in Kuwait is still unable to implement promising economic reform that would put the country on a par with those states benefiting from modern innovations in the international economic system.” Mr Tamimi accused deputies of “protecting their own interests and those of their supporters at the expense of economic reform.” Major changes were needed, he went on, if Kuwait was to cope with its mounting budget deficit. “If the deficit is KD1-1.5bn ($3.3-4.9bn) annually, then it will rise to unprecedented levels in the next few years. This accumulation of deficit will be important because we do not expect oil revenue to meet the state’s expenditure commitment in this period and because the real value of oil prices remains frozen after inflation is taken into account.”