Kuwaiti opposition blocs want parliament with teeth

KUWAIT, June 27 (Reuters) Kuwaiti opposition groupings are hoping to prevent the election of a rubber-stamp legislature in in the Gulf Arab state where cabinet ministers are appointed.

Opposition veterans charge that some cabinet ministers and ruling family members want to rig Thursday's poll, a charge officials brush aside as campaign propaganda.

''They (government members) are trying to use money to influence the election,'' leading opposition politician Abdullah al-Nabairi told Reuters.

''They want to control parliament and they don't want to share the decision-making process,'' said Naibari, who heads the Democratic Forum, one of the groupings in a loose opposition alliance of 29 pro-reform former MPs and Islamist, leftist and liberal blocs.

Kuwait, a close US ally, does not allow formal political parties but tolerates groupings.

''We want a parliament that does not fear to table no-confidence motions against the government. Our democracy does not have legs now,'' Naibari told a rally. ''If 15 honest people make it to parliament then it will be strong.'' Energy Minister and influential ruling family member Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah has denied as ''baseless'' accusations that ministers including himself were interfering in the electoral process or sponsoring corruption.

The vote takes place against a backdrop of high tension between the government and reformist former MPs over electoral reforms. The emir dissolved the house last month at the peak of a crisis between the two wings of authority.

Pro-reform former MPs, the majority of whom are seeking re-election, have launched a ''reform charter'' pledging to cut the number of constituencies to prevent vote buying.

The charter states the 25-year-old constituencies system had allowed a number of lawmakers to buy their way into the house.

The opposition groups and former MPs lack a clear electoral alliance but are united by what they call a pressing need to confront the government and to combat corruption.

They include the hardline Salafist and the Islamic Constitutional Movement -- Kuwait's wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Like the Democratic Forum, both groups are fielding or supporting candidates in the polls.

Reuters SK VP0148