The political framework of Kuwait

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: Emir: Amir MISHAL al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 16 December 2023)
Prime Minister: AHMAD ABDULLAH Al-Ahmad al Sabah (since 15 May 2024)
Next Election Dates: National Assembly: April 2028
Main Political Parties: While political parties are not formally legal in Kuwait, informal political groupings and parliamentary blocs have developed. These include both religious and secular factions, though many parliamentarians prioritise tribal concerns over ideological affiliations.

Some key organisations include:

- Islamic Constitutional Movement (Hadas): an Islamist political organisation, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
- National Islamic Alliance: a Shia political group that opposes corruption.
- National Democratic Alliance: a liberal-leaning political bloc, generally considered centre-left.
- Kuwait Democratic Forum: a secular, left-leaning political group.
Executive Power: The chief of state is the Emir, a hereditary title. While the Emir holds significant executive power, Kuwait operates as a constitutional monarchy. The Emir can dissolve parliament, promulgate laws (subject to parliamentary approval), refer bills back to parliament for reconsideration, and appoint military officers. The Emir appoints the Prime Minister, who serves as the head of government without a fixed term. The Council of Ministers is formed by the Emir in consultation with the Prime Minister. The Emir has the power to dissolve parliament but must call anticipated elections within 60 days.
Legislative Power: Kuwait has a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, which consists of 50 members elected by popular vote for four-year terms. Government ministers, who may number up to 16, also sit in the Assembly as ex-officio members with voting rights but are not elected. The parliament has the power to dismiss ministers through a no-confidence vote but cannot directly remove the Prime Minister. However, it can trigger political pressure that may lead to their resignation. The parliament can override the Emir’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 105/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Partly Free
Political Freedom:: 5/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

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