Associations to play key role in Kuwait elections

Upcoming parliament elections will be unprecedented regarding participation of civil and media associations tasked with supervision of the 2012 National Assembly polls, said the head of the Kuwait Transparency Society. Transparency is one of the factors of assessing success of elections in many nations of the globe, said Dr. Salah Al-Ghazali, the chairmen of the society and the higher commission of elections' transparency, in an interview with KUNA. Supervision of the forthcoming elections by the Kuwait Transparency Society had been blessed by His Highness the Amir before it was endorsed by the government, he said, affirming that participation of the grass-root and civil associations in the election process "is a major development that should boost optimism of ensuring transparency of the planned polls." The society formed the higher commission for ensuring transparency of the process after issuance of Amiri Decrees of dissolving the parliament, calling for elections and setting the date of the polling. The newly-born commission is tasked with observing the polls to make sure that the process would be held according to standing laws and regulations and would not be tainted with some illegitimate acts, he said, alluding to voters' record, qualifications of nominees, reporting about (the illegal) primaries, vote buying, violating laws that govern organization of campaigns and impartiality of public authorities. The commission team is inspecting sources of funding of electoral campaigns and violent incidents at the electoral centers, he added, indicating that only tasked persons are qualified to speak on behalf of this authority. On reports that a KD 5,000 bounty has been set to reward informants about vote buying cases, Al-Ghazali said in the exclusive remarks to the national news agency, "We have asked the cabinet to allocate a special budget for rewarding those who report about such cases." However, he noted that informants must turn up in person and present tangible proofs about the case. Elaborating, Al-Ghazali said the commission, in coordination with the ministry of interior, seeks to apprehend the wrongdoers, "red-handed." Members of the society, other civil associations are working at five police stations, serving as headquarters of the commission throughout the electoral process. During the day of balloting, a special operations room would be set up to receive complaints and remarks. Staff will be linked with a hot-line with observers in all the constituencies. Communications with the media will be also available. Al-Ghazali revealed that a number of Arab observers would assist the local observers during the polling. The Kuwait Transparency Society founded in 2005, is the local branch of the Berlin-based Transparency International. Meanwhile, the executive manager of the international arbitration of the Kuwait Society of Engineers, Dr. Nasser Al-Zaid, said the association role would be restricted to "follow-up and not (literally) supervision," affirming that it would play this role in coordination with the ministries of interior and information. He indicated that nominees and their representatives at the ballot stations would enjoy the freedom to ensure that the polling at the centers would be according to the relevant rules and laws. He also indicated that commission teams would function outside the centers to monitor any suspicious and illicit activities, such as vote buying.