Kuwaiti polls close, economy tops agenda

By Ulf Laessing and Rania El Gamal

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted in a parliamentary election on Saturday that they hoped would bring in fresh faces able to bury political feuds and push through economic reforms.

Some 275 candidates were running for the 50-seat National Assembly, among them 27 women hoping for their first success after failing to win a single seat in 2006.

By 5 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT), about 52.4 percent of voters had cast their ballots, according to figures issued by state new agency KUNA. Polls closed as scheduled at 8 p.m.

Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved parliament in March to end a standoff with the cabinet that had delayed economic reforms aimed at preparing Kuwait for the era when its oil reserves run out.

Nearly 362,000 Kuwaitis, more than half of them women, were eligible to vote and polling got off to a slow start on a hot, dusty weekend.

Women won the right to vote and stand for office in 2005 but face an uphill struggle attracting voters in a Gulf Arab country where many still believe a woman's place is in the home.

"I'm against women in parliament. I think everybody should stay in his place," said Samira al-Azm, a voter in her 50s.

The last assembly focused on questioning ministers over their conduct, forcing several to resign. The OPEC producer has yet to appoint an oil minister since the last quit in November.  Continued...