 | More Middle East countries should follow this example ... |
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait’s Shias, around a third of the native population of the Sunni-ruled emirate, are vying to ensure their votes in Thursday’s legislative elections do not serve extremist Sunni candidates, a former minister said on Wednesday. “Naturally, the Shias want to be represented by Shiite deputies,” Ali Al Baghli, former oil minister and a member of the Kuwaiti Association of Human Rights, told AFP.
But if this is not possible, they would prefer to be represented ”by liberal Sunnis and not fundamentalists”, he said. “The Salafists (a fundamentalist Sunni current) deny the others their rights and accuse them of apostasy, which is totally in contradiction with the constitution,” said Baghli, himself a Shiite and a former MP.
| That's pretty much what Salafists do. And behead people. |
“In constituencies where there are no Shiite candidates, Shiite voters will definitely cast their ballots in favour of liberal, independent and moderate (Sunni) candidates, in order to deprive the Salafists of these votes,” he said.
But Baghli underlined “fears of a dispersion of the votes” of his community in districts with a high Shiite density and many Shiite candidates. “The Shias do not form one tribe or one current. Some are moderates, while others are extremists. It is not like in tribes, where all votes go to one candidate,” he said. “Votes could thus be scattered between many (Shiite) candidates without ensuring the victory of any of them, serving a Salafist candidate who would also gather the majority of Sunni votes in the district,” he added.
| We used to have the 'bullet vote' in Illinois; something the Kuwaitis might want to implement (in a way) for the Salafists ... |
Both Baghli and Mahri believe that Shias could gain six out of the 50 seats up for grabs on Thursday. The outgoing parliament had five Shiite MPs. The outgoing government, which should resign on Saturday after the expected announcement of the election results, included two Shiite ministers -- Yussef Al Zalzalah (commerce and industry) and Maasouma Al Mubarak (planning). |