Word: kuwait
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...their commanders, who were among the first runners, several hundred lower-ranking military officers have protested the lack of accountability. They want the Chief of Staff and at least five other high-ranking officers fired. In many countries such discontent would produce rumors of an imminent coup. In Kuwait the disenchanted sent a polite letter up the chain of command, asking for an audience with the Prime Minister. Seven weeks later, they have still received no response, so most stay home passively and grow beards -- an officer corps on a genteel sit-down strike. "A coup, a civil war?" laughs...
Since becoming independent from Britain in 1961, Kuwait has enjoyed the greatest democracy and freest press in the gulf region -- which is not saying much. The last parliament, elected in 1985, was suspended by the Emir in 1986 largely because it began to act like the U.S. Congress. Its sin: investigating the financial affairs of senior government officials. The Emir also imposed a press censorship that continues to this day. Pressure against the government's autocratic tendencies began to rise in 1990, so the Emir created a National Council, an assembly that could question policy but not legislate. The council...
...opposition leader. But again, few seem to care so long as a date has been set. "In all of this," admits a U.S. diplomat, "the anti-Sabah factions have been hurt by President Bush's saying that the gulf war was not fought in order to bring democracy to Kuwait. The Secretary of State has admitted that Kuwait's government is not 'the optimum type of regime,' but when the President, who's considered a saint in Kuwait, downplayed democracy, the Emir won a cushion that will protect him at least until the '92 vote...
After the Palestinian question, the hottest political issue in Kuwait concerns the right to vote. Until now, the franchise has been limited to male Kuwaitis who can trace their roots in the country to before 1920, a meager total of about 65,000 people, a figure that is less than 10% of the present Kuwaiti population...
Despite their managerial incompetence, the Sabahs appear to have the political savvy necessary to perpetuate their rule well into the next century. Exactly how they use their power is anyone's guess, but growing xenophobia is one likely effect. For years Kuwait's goal has been to reach a fifty-fifty ratio of Kuwaitis to foreigners by the year 2000 (vs. the 30-to-70 ratio before the Iraqis rolled in). The invasion has made the government more loudly determined than ever to reach that goal -- but getting there will probably prove impossible. After a whirlwind shopping spree...