Islamists dominate Kuwait polls (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7406082.stm)

Islamists ... what does that mean? Everywhere I've seen "Islamists" voted into office and get a majority a politcal mess follows. Total gridlock between moving forward with the rest of the world or bassackwards to some glorious past ... aka: Bahrain

So is this a step in the "right" direction for Kuwait?

Now Kuwait is seriously going to be ****ed

Islamists dominate Kuwait polls (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7406082.stm)

Islamists ... what does that mean? Everywhere I've seen "Islamists" voted into office and get a majority a politcal mess follows. Total gridlock between moving forward with the rest of the world or bassackwards to some glorious past ... aka: Bahrain

So is this a step in the "right" direction for Kuwait?


ُThanks to the policies of Mr. Bush .. even moderate muslims become extremists .. and instead of one bin Laden there are thousands now !

ُThanks to the policies of Mr. Bush .. even moderate muslims become extremists .. and instead of one bin Laden there are thousands now !

Exactly... and he is the one who pulled terrorists to I-rack!

There is always a bright side…

After 9/11 Muslims started paying more attention to their religion… the popularity of the Islamists has become more intense ever since and since it is a poll then the voters know better about minding their business!

It can mean anything. As expected from any political changes. Ultimately, in few months down the line, proper feedback would be noticed for a possible understanding of what it can mean...

Wish them all the best!

If they dominated the polls, then it is surely the right step. Just as it was in Palestine and other countries. Long live democracy :)

Kuwait's "Majlis Al Ummah" has always had a good number of so called "Islamists" (I dont like that name, everyone is an Islamists in a muslim country :rolleyes: )

But yah, after bush's activity around the area .. a lot would choose to vote for who represents thier religious point of view. Any way, Kuwait's Islamists are generally moderate and very well educated so I dont see it causing any problem.

^ That is not what I heard from my Kuwaiti friends. Many fear that "Islamist" are going to win the majority and it is going to be something more similar to Saudi Arabia ruling rather than Oman/Bahrain moderate ruling.

Maybe, but from my general observation they are nothing like Saudis. Kuwaitis are highly educated and open to new ideas.

I think the term "Islamist" is okay for lack of a better term.

But I think it would be useful to know what the position of these particular parties is...what they stand for, what they want to do, etc., before criticizing them too carelessly.

^ Yes AP, however those people are the non-Islamist. However, I've been told that the Bedouin Kuwaitis (as they are called) form the majority of the Islamist party. So I think they're more screwed than we think.

Just from a little googling, it appears that some other interesting facts are worth noting:

1. Kuwaiti candidates are not from any political party, so what constitutes an "Islamist" might be difficult to say. Most of them appear to be opponents of the government's plans, just "government opponents". I saw an "Islamist" winning candidate being embraced....he didn't have a beard. How "Islamist" is he?

I think this designation might be very imprecise.

2. "Meanwhile, the moderate political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood party only won three seats, or half of what it had in parliament."

I'm not sure what this means but if this is the Muslim Brotherhood I know about from Egypt, then any political arm it has is only moderate by comparison to something even more radical. It sounds like the Muslim Brotherhood actually LOST seats.

3. Two woman candidates came VERY VERY CLOSE to winning for the first time...which is movement in a different direction.

Essentially, Kuwait seems to have the same parliament it did before the elections, with the government opponents gaining slightly...

^It's the same Muslim Brotherhood so far as I know.
They have quite a number of seats in the Egyptian Parliment, apparently little in the Kuwaiti Majlis al Umma.

The big deal to me, however, seems to be that:
The majority of Kuwait's 2.9-million population is made up of expatriates, who do not have a vote. Military personnel are also ineligible to cast ballots.

^It's the same Muslim Brotherhood so far as I know.
They have quite a number of seats in the Egyptian Parliment, apparently little in the Kuwaiti Majlis al Umma.

The big deal to me, however, seems to be that:

but thats the case every where as far as I know.. only citizens get to vote ..

AS LONG AS Islamists drink "Starbucks" coffee, eat "Happy Sets" between prayers...what's the big deal....??

fatak

But you look upset about it, don't you ? ;)


The first thing I wish they do is forbidding all sex change in Kuwait
Long live Islamists :D

But you look upset about it, don't you ? ;)


The first thing I wish they do is forbidding all sex change in Kuwait
Long live Islamists :DYes devote all their time and resources to getting back to Islamic society.

Kuwait should flourish and prosper in the 21st century.

If only past practice showed that to be true it would be great.

Yes devote all their time and resources to getting back to Islamic society.
.


I really wish they do and we all do.


What do you mean by flourish and prosper ? In what ?

^You know, their doctors should be trained on how to conduct sex change operations, and possibly create new surgeries like man-to-goat so that the fans of bestiality don't complain to human rights organisations :rolleyes:

Let's not forget one thing:

The Kuwaitis are voting!

And women are voting only for the second time.

http://www.aljarida.com/AlJarida/Resources/ArticlesPictures/2008/05/18/61241_400.jpg

http://www.aljarida.com/AlJarida/Resources/ArticlesPictures/2008/05/18/61273_x1.jpg

http://www.aljarida.com/AlJarida/Resources/ArticlesPictures/2008/05/18/61241_402.jpg

http://www.aljarida.com/AlJarida/Resources/ArticlesPictures/2008/05/18/61280_dfdgfdfgdfg.jpg

(I stole all these from Juwaira's blog... if you want to visit it, go here:

http://jewaira.wordpress.com/ )

A big contrast to 1991:

http://www.kuwait-info.com/Images/war_occupation.jpg

***

http://www.kuwait-info.com/Images/war_liberation.jpg

:)

what's darth vader doing there?

what's darth vader doing there?

He stayed on when the rest of Saddam's troops left! :p

But

http://www.kuwait-info.com/Images/war_liberation.jpg

(Sssh! Don't tell anybody! Bad, bad USA! )

Jewaira's blog is blocked by Omantel, I just checked

Islamists in Kuwait represent the moderate voice of democracy which will live on for generations to raise the principal of moderation as a political approach in Kuwait.

Islamists in Kuwait represent the moderate voice of democracy which will live on for generations to raise the principal of moderation as a political approach in Kuwait.We would all like to believe that.

When is it going to happen in countries that vote in hardline Islamist?

This one ROCKS! :cute: :cute: :heart: :heart: :love: :love:

waiting to vote.

YES WOMEN OF MY COUNTY YESSSSS :D:D lool

Jewaira's blog is blocked by Omantel, I just checked

Funny...I wonder why? :os

She's not an advocate of free love or anything...

i loved reading that blog. thanks for sharing.
loved seeing the pics of women in different attire.

ُThanks to the policies of Mr. Bush .. even moderate muslims become extremists .. and instead of one bin Laden there are thousands now !

You're ridiculous. The American presence would have never even been there had the Kuwaitis never openly invited them.

Read: $$$$

We need to do that one game which is similar to Six degrees of Kevin Bacon instead of Kevin Bacon we replace it with Iraq and how the US somehow no matter what thread is brought up (like how conservative are you? or the issue with Burma or something so insanely out there the US is to blame for all that lives and breathes in this universe)it all comes back to US/Iraq. If no one knows what this game is here is an explanation from the Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon

i dont see anything wrong with whats happened if everyone used there brain kuwait would never go to the extreeme like KSA when KSA its self is being more modern :)

i loved reading that blog. thanks for sharing.
loved seeing the pics of women in different attire.

There are a lot of good Kuwaiti blogs! I found them through Iraqi blogs, which would never have happened had there been no invasion.

That's how I found Arabian Princess' blog : UmQusai.blogspot.com . Through Kuwaiti blogs.

Through Arby, I found Sabla.

So, it's all down to George Bush that I'm here!

(Jeff ducks to avoid rotten fruit aimed at his head...)

PS Kuwait is free! (Don't tell anybody!)

http://www.kuwait-info.com/Images/war_liberation.jpg

^looooooooooooooooooool Jeff .. so I really should be thankful to America ha :p

What I don't like about the Islamists, is that they protect culture through invoking the name of religion.

That's why we never see any women get elected into the Kuwaiti parliament, since it is 'un-Islamic' to them, which is the silliest thing I've heard.

There have been so many women who are members of parliament, ministers, embassadors, etc who are Arab and Muslim, who have done a great job. Yet, they spread this notion that women should never be in positions of leadership to secure the position for themselves. :rolleyes:

That's right Sophis Catrina. Islam is a perfect way of life but these people are carrying their own bad political propaganda while carrying the name of Islam. ( I'm not refering to the Islamist Party in Kuwait because I'm still not clear of their intention ).

UmKhalidy says that Jewaira's blog is blocked, but this account of hers of voting in Kuwait is so vivid and beautifully written I'm going to post it. There's no harm anyway in this post...

Forty women waiting in a classroom. Chairs against the walls, lined around the room. The curtainless windows are covered with badly cut white poster paper. The white-board still has May 13th English lesson on it in flamboyant handwriting. Twin towers. And then some boy’s name scratched across the board. AlKlaib.

I look at the classroom floor. It is a filthy mess with old layers upon layers of dust. Old stains. There are a few candidate cards dropped on the dusty floor. The walls are bare. The arms on the ceiling fan are somewhat warped - and I wonder how anyone could reach up there to bend them. Boys must be very destructive. The voting centre is in a boys’ school.

I guess no one is paying attention to the horrible state of the room. At least the classroom is cooler than the open hallways outside. Besides, the women are impatient for the queue to move on; they want to vote and leave. On my right, on my left, women are on the phone to their spouses, telling them to wait a while; they are still in line. One woman arranges lunch with the cook. The other woman tells her husband to come back for her in a while. Another woman asks about the children at home.

It is a Saturday and a holiday but today we are back to voting again for parliament members after a frenzied two months of campaigning that was held in check the last few days by the death of the Father Amir Sheikh Saad May 13th.

As I entered the classroom, there was an older abaya clad woman giving a lecture but all of us were oddly quiet and just looked at each other across the room. I pulled out my novel from my little handbag. I was finished with the very last chapter before I got halfway around the room. The queue moved slowly.

Tucking the book back in my bag, I cast my eyes around the room. We are a cocktail of every thing in this classroom. Young girls in cropped pants and Katie Holmes hairdos. Abaya clad women in niqabs. Abaya clad women with faces showing. Hijab wearing women with trousers and high, high heels. Women with uncovered heads. Women of all ages.

One young woman comes in and plops down with a defiant attitude. She is rakishly thin, long tanned arms exposed and mapped with Madonna-like veins. Her light brown hair is cut as they say locally in a “boy” style. She extends long legs in front of her, covered in baggy white pants and sports shoes. Her companion, perhaps her mother, wears dark sunglasses, and the traditonal abaya and headscarf. The young woman knows she has caused a stir. In the room, women glance with curioisity. I am curious too about the tattoo on her upper left arm. The symbol of Scorpio.

All women are relatively quiet and non-complaining. There are many, many LV handbags here today. There are many over-sized designer handbags here today as well. I think about what they might be keeping in them. They would make excellent baby-changing bags with enough room for a diaper, a change of clothing, a rattle or two, and other necessities.

In my bag, I have my mobile, my book, my camera, my documents, and ooops! I have forgotten my little notebook… the one I write my observations in! How can I make notes about everyone though with the women on either side looking on? We are squeezed together here and have to get up and move along the line every few minutes..

As I near the exit and am close to making it to the next queue outside the classroom, I talk to the woman who is monitoring our queue. I praise her for her patience and pleasant attitude despite the crowds and the long hours ahead of her. My words please her and she smiles. With her greyish blue eyes, she reminds me of a fair version of Najwa Karam.

The overall feeling is one of anticipation and quiet organization on everyone’s behalf. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with so many women where it was so hushed.


http://jewaira.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/forty-women/#comment-57476

A monarchy in need of a parliament is not a strong one
Both Oman and Kuwait have no women in their elected chambers [Parliament and Shura ] but they have the highest % of female members in their boards , also more than Italy and Japan

financial times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c7e5324-253b-11dd-a14a-000077b07658.html)

It was very interesting browsing through this topic, i wasn't there for either elections scince women started to vote, but i only turn 21 next year anyway. however, my friend just arrived here back from home and she was very excited and had really high hopes for aseel al awadi which ranked the 11th in the 3rd circle, so close ! my friend attended a couple of her ''nadwaat'' ( speeches) and she loved how supportive people were. she was also sad she didnt make the cut.
but we have high hopes for the next elections, im sure attitudes will further change.
regarding islamists, i was just browsing the names of people that got elected and i saw two names that are quite familiar in being very ''islamic'' and try to restrict and ban this and that.
not sure about the rest and how ''islamic'' they get ranked. i hope things turn out well either way :) but for the sake of keeping the balance its good to have people supporting different extremes [and in saying that i dont want to sound like i support islamic extremists .. thats never a good thing in my opinion.]
the name list didnt seem sooo bad to me, there is some abnormality in how the seats eventually got divided but im no expert! ;p
one thing i know is that kuwait is in no way heading to become another KSA, no matter what decisions our parliment ever decides to make,[ and that has included things like banning parties and trying to seperate guys and girls in universities ] the public has other opinions and theyre always heard. So with islamics being there regardless of how extreme they are in thier opinions i don't think it will get to that stage. Majority votes yes, but the shaikh (leader) has to approve it ! not anything goes

ُThanks to the policies of Mr. Bush .. even moderate muslims become extremists .. and instead of one bin Laden there are thousands now !

lol...yes, blame the infidels.

However, the policies of Mr bin Laden preceeded and resulted in the policies of Mr Bush.

It was very interesting browsing through this topic, i wasn't there for either elections scince women started to vote, but i only turn 21 next year anyway. however, my friend just arrived here back from home and she was very excited and had really high hopes for aseel al awadi which ranked the 11th in the 3rd circle, so close ! my friend attended a couple of her ''nadwaat'' ( speeches) and she loved how supportive people were. she was also sad she didnt make the cut.
but we have high hopes for the next elections, im sure attitudes will further change.
regarding islamists, i was just browsing the names of people that got elected and i saw two names that are quite familiar in being very ''islamic'' and try to restrict and ban this and that.
not sure about the rest and how ''islamic'' they get ranked. i hope things turn out well either way :) but for the sake of keeping the balance its good to have people supporting different extremes [and in saying that i dont want to sound like i support islamic extremists .. thats never a good thing in my opinion.]
the name list didnt seem sooo bad to me, there is some abnormality in how the seats eventually got divided but im no expert! ;p
one thing i know is that kuwait is in no way heading to become another KSA, no matter what decisions our parliment ever decides to make,[ and that has included things like banning parties and trying to seperate guys and girls in universities ] the public has other opinions and theyre always heard. So with islamics being there regardless of how extreme they are in thier opinions i don't think it will get to that stage. Majority votes yes, but the shaikh (leader) has to approve it ! not anything goes

Your enthusiasm for the process shows :love: loved reading this post. :love:

Salaam Everybody.

Histrionically and Statistically speaking, Islamists have always had their fair share in the Kuwaiti parliament. 2008 Parliament had a bigger share and new faces of Islamists due to the new constituency system through which Kuwait has only 5 constituencies instead of 25 which helped eliminating many unpleasant phenomena.
The larger the constituency is, the more difficult it is to bribe someone to vote for you for instance, or to depend on the votes of the friends in the "diwaniyahs" of your small residential area. Competence as a criteria for voting became more eminent now. The new system is not without flaws, but it is for sure a reformist step.

We chose their representative. This is democracy, once you accept it, you have to accept its results. ;)

C'est tout. :cool:

1. Kuwaiti candidates are not from any political party, so what constitutes an "Islamist" might be difficult to say. Most of them appear to be opponents of the government's plans, just "government opponents". I saw an "Islamist" winning candidate being embraced....he didn't have a beard. How "Islamist" is he?

I think this designation might be very imprecise.
Haha @ imprecise designation. A beard is not a mandatory requirement for an Islamist.

Salaam Everybody.

Histrionically and Statistically speaking, Islamists have always had their fair share in the Kuwaiti parliament. 2008 Parliament had a bigger share and new faces of Islamists due to the new constituency system through which Kuwait has only 5 constituencies instead of 25 which helped eliminating many unpleasant phenomena.
The larger the constituency is, the more difficult it is to bribe someone to vote for you for instance, or to depend on the votes of the friends in the "diwaniyahs" of your small residential area. Competence as a criteria for voting became more eminent now. The new system is not without flaws, but it is for sure a reformist step.

We chose their representative. This is democracy, once you accept it, you have to accept its results. ;)

C'est tout. :cool:
First you say reducing the number of constituencies eliminated unwanted phenomena, which basically means: less is good. Then you say the larger the constituenclaljhgadlja is, the harder the access to corruption, which basically means: more is good. I don't understand.

PS. How corrupted do you think the Kuwaiti government was/is ?

Islamists dominate Kuwait polls.
Is Sheikh Bin Laden in q8

Kuwaiti MPs walk out of parliament due to female Cabinet members' attire (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212041446953&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

Muslim hardliners in Kuwait's parliament have walked out of the body's inaugural meeting to protest the lack of head scarves for two female Cabinet ministers.

The men left just after lawmakers and ministers started taking the oath of office Sunday. They returned after the women were sworn in. None of the women were wearing long dresses or covering their hair, which Islamists maintain is required by their religion.

And their first order of business of the new Islamist PMs is to walk out to send a message that unIslamist dress of women will not be tolerated.

It happened also last year (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzI5Mzg4NDg4)

Jerusalem Post :cute:

Is Sheikh Bin Laden in q8

k2 (http://www.timesnow.tv/NewsDtls.aspx?NewsID=8884)

And their first order of business of the new Islamist PMs is to walk out to send a message that unIslamist dress of women will not be tolerated.

True, they should wear proper dress.

So Bin Laden is hiding there, now it will be easy for Bush to find him.

It happened also last year (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzI5Mzg4NDg4)

Jerusalem Post :cute:



k2 (http://www.timesnow.tv/NewsDtls.aspx?NewsID=8884)And now they may have enough Islamist MP's to do something about it ...

Kuwait to investigate women min over hijab (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2008/June/middleeast_June38.xml&section=middleeast)

Good luck with that ...

Is not as threatening as you believe as long as it happens in countries like Kuwait and Bahrain, where political debates and confrontation are alive
It would be dangerous in a country like Oman, more conservative and less open to healthy innovations
For this I very much appreciate the work of secret police or cid in keeping an eye on Islamists
If these people take over here, then we can forget a normal life

Is Sheikh Bin Laden in q8

I always tell people he's in Brooklyn, in Crown Heights hiding out among the Hasidim.

Who would ever look for him there?

"Maazel Tov, Moyshe! You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear to G_d, you're the spitting image of that guy from Afghanistan..."

http://media.canada.com/idl/ntnp/20070710/ntnp_20070710_a015_notinmybackyard_43765_mi0001.jp g

First you say reducing the number of constituencies eliminated unwanted phenomena, which basically means: less is good. Then you say the larger the constituenclaljhgadlja is, the harder the access to corruption, which basically means: more is good. I don't understand.

PS. How corrupted do you think the Kuwaiti government was/is ?

By reducing the number of constituencies, this means that each constituency now has a bigger number of voters than before, and in our case it is good. The more voters you have to deal with as a candidate, the more challenging your task would be, and thus you need to present a good platform that will satisfy a large group of citizens not only those with whome you did you public relationing.

This was a result of a campaign called "Nabeeha 5" or "We Want it 5" organised by the youth, and it actually started on blogs, and the moved to the streets. The fruit was 5 constituencies with larger number of voters.

The problem was the there was a degree of corruption in some of the members of the parliament (the legislative authority)! I know this is a srange case, but that is why the constituency system was changed to improve the quality of our representative.

regards :)