Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 13, 2009

KUWAIT: Tribes in the fourth and fifth constituencies are engaged in intensive consultation exercises in anticipation of the Amiri decree officially announcing the date of this year's general election and of the election day itself, which could be as close as May 16.

One local expert explained that each tribe had been allocated between 25 and 39 diwaniyas in which to hold their primary elections within a six-hour period, with a maximum of 250 voters per diwaniya. The insider revealed that Al-Enezi tribe has already agreed to hold its 'consultancies' next Saturday, when constituents from each tribe will vote for their chosen candidate.

The organizers of the 'consultancies' are now preparing their final lists of Enezi tribe voters who are already registered on the voters' rolls in a bid to distribute them to various diwaniyas according to alphabetical order, the expert explained.

Local tribal leaders' efforts to reduce the number of candidates have succeeded primarily in convincing tribesmen that each tribe should be represented by two candidates only (rather than four) so that those two will have more chance of winning if the tribe forms alliances with other tribes or groups and exchanges votes.

The Mutair consultancies in the fourth constituency have already taken place, with the tribe members agreeing that a maximum of three or four candidates will be selected from the 27 nominated by the end of next week to represent the tribe in the general election.

The insider added that 'minorities' in the fourth constituency are still awaiting the results of the consultations amongst larger tribes before announcing their own plans. The minorities comprise almost 10,000 voters in the constituency.