It may be said that the decree issued by the Kuwaiti prince on 16 May 1999 to grant women the full political rights to vote and run for parliament council elections considered from February 2000 came at an inappropriate time, for the reaction to the decree dismissing the parliament had not yet subsided. The government’s over-issuing of decrees in the council’s absence was according to many unjustifiable because it did not reflect an emergency situation. These factors, along with the strong presence of stern and reserved Islamic groups inside the parliament, led to rejection of this decree, and this occurred over two stages:

The first stage was when the domanial decree was presented before the parliament in 23 November 1999 and failed by a large majority (41 parliament members opposed it and only 21 supported it, with 13 of these being ministers). This was followed by the presentation of a substitute draft law to the legislative committee on women’s rights—it was proposed by a number of liberal and reformist ministers supportive of women’s rights. The legislative committee approved this draft law, to be later presented before the parliament.

The second stage was when voting occurred on the draft law on women’s political rights in the council on 30 November 1999 and the draft law was refused by the council after it had received the support of 30 parliament members and was rejected by 22 parliament members. Two parliament members refrained from voting .

The matter ended in the parliament’s rejection of all the decretal laws issued during the period of its dismissal on constitutional terms and after the government announced its adoption of a number of these decrees and its presenting them to the parliament as draft laws of an urgent nature .

The current parliament witnessed another problem due to the government’s procedures in imposing fees on some services and raising existing fees on others. The opposition campaign to these procedures was led by the independent parliament member and former Speaker of Parliament, Ahmed As-Saadoun, who is currently president of the parliament’s housing committee. He called for the holding of an exceptional session of the parliament before 1999 and affirmed that the opposition to these government procedures stems from the fact that imposing decrees should occur through draft laws jointly approved with the parliament and should be under its patronage. Yet this is what failed to occur.

In a press announcement, the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for cabinet and parliament affairs affirmed that the government does not oppose the holding of an emergency meeting to discuss government decrees and procedures should the need arise and called for the necessity of putting the country’s interest above all others .

Despite the previous manifestations of the clash between the parliament and the government, it is possible to sense some positive indications for the desire to avoid clashes and activate the parliament’s role.

In this context is the advisory meeting called for by Speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Khurafy and attended by 36 parliament members who expressed in it their determination to continue holding such meetings in order to achieve additional coordination, which saves the parliament’s time and effort and guarantees the acceleration of achieving and passing numerous important laws. The presence’s approval of the Speaker of Parliament’s proposal to restore the constitutional expert to the podium during meetings to conclude issues of disagreement related to implementing the by-laws and also his proposal to form an association of constitutional experts as a backbone of the parliament’s work .

On another level, it is possible to observe the high importance that the parliament ascribes to pushing forward the economic reform process in Kuwait, which requires the availability of a legislative treatise supportive of this process. This is confirmed by what Dr. Nasser As-Sanih, referendary of the parliament’s Committee of Legislative Affairs, who affirms the necessity of filling the existing legislative gap so that more encouragement can be given to Kuwait’s private sector and to the return of expatriate funds. He also affirmed the existence of an agreement between the government and the parliament to give, on the parliament’s work agenda or in the committees working, priority to the laws related to economic reform. These laws are either draft laws proposed by the government or by members such as: the law of laborers in non-governmental sectors, the law of encouraging foreign investors to work in Kuwait, the law of indirect investment for foreigners, the law of corporations, the law of civic organizations, the law regulating the market of monetary bills, and the law of leases .

Yet there remain numerous topics and issues that require being addressed by the parliament and that may lead to a possible clash with the government whether due to their sensitivity or importance to the public.

Relevant in this context is what was published by one of the newspapers regarding parliamentary circles’ expectation that publishing and publication laws will receive much importance in the parliament and that the government authorities will seek several proposals to tighten the grip on newspapers, among them incriminating the following: publishing secret parliamentary meetings, revealing news sources, and encouraging the idea of signing a media honor pledge.

At the same time, some current parliament members criticized the law of publications and demanded that the Minister of Information present a new law or amend the present one to comply with developments in Kuwait and one that would guarantee more liberties .

The close observer of the Kuwaiti parliament performance and the Kuwaiti democratic experience in general realizes the importance of that pioneering experience among Arab and Gulf countries and that continued over the length of several decades.

This experience, it should be noted, was characterized by the particularity of Kuwaiti society. Despite its influence by the pillars of liberal democracy, it is doubtlessly considered the product of its environment and not a strange uprooted plant. Sources affirm this experience’s continued attempt to deepen these roots and benefit from the realistic and actual practice it undergoes so that it can be wiser in confronting obstacles and challenges—and these are many—and so that it can present a distinct Arab model of democratic practice.