“Democracy has failed in Kuwait-” I hear this sentence a lot these days, the other most common sentiment is “I hope they dissolve the Parliament for ever.”
I find this strange, it is illogical, to buy into with the above statement since we have not even tasted democracy in Kuwait for that long. Now some may say “Kuwait has had a Parliament since 1963” which would make it 46 years but let us look at its age and productivity.
1963 – 1967 8 members resign in protests.
1967 – 1971 Vote rigging by Government – 7 members refuse seat in protest.
1971 – 1975
1975 – 1976 Dissolved
1981 – 1986 Districts modified from 10 to 25
1985 – 1986 Dissolved
1992 – 1996
1996 – 1999 Dissolved
1999 – 2003
2003 – 2006 Dissolved
2006 – 2008 Dissolved
In other words, we have a gap during 1976-1981 (5 years) and 1986 – 1992 (6 years) with no parliament – a total of 11 years. We have only had 3 full Parliamentary sessions without any ‘government intervention.’
We are young. We have not even completed 50 years of democracy, how the hell do we want democracy to mature if we keep treating like as a fad? The democratic experiment cannot be called a “failure” this fast, considering its young age. We must be patient.