PARIS, June 28 (KUNA) -- Only hours ahead of the legislative elections in Kuwait, a prominent researcher and expert on the Gulf countries praised Wednesday Kuwait's parliamentary system, saying the country stands alone in this area and is the only one in the Gulf to hold a real electoral campaign.
In Kuwait, "the legislative power is really independent," Fatiha Dazi-Heni told journalists at the Foreign Press Center in the French captial.
Dazi-Heni, who is a Fellow at the prestigious Political Studies Institute (IEP), pointed out that Kuwait has a parliamentary tradition dating back for many years and "public life in Kuwait is as dynamic as any developed country in the Middle East, like in Lebanon, for example."
She further praised the recovery of Kuwait's political life, which had been "frozen" for a long time because of the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and the subsequent fear and threats from the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Now she said, "I have never seen Kuwaitis so relaxed and comfortable with their situation even if there is still regional instablity and concern about what is happening in Iraq."
She expressed admiration for Kuwait's adherence to parliamentary democracy and also to a free press, which she said was "professional" and a reference for many countries.
She also pointed to the Kuwaiti constitution that has survived challenges like the Iraqi invasion.
On the forthcoming election, she said it was important for women to participate but she remarked they did not have a lot of time to prepare for the campaign, so their success or failure remains yet to be seen.
Nonetheless, she stressed that the organization of such campaigns was very rare in Arab countries and he remarked that Kuwait "is the only Gulf country where there is a real electoral campaign."
