But as in neighboring states, the ruling family remains firmly in control.
Opposition candidates, fighting a do-or-die battle against what they charge is "rampant corruption" in the oil-rich emirate, have not spared the Sabah dynasty from sharp criticism, and occasionally stern warnings.
The level of criticism against the ruling family, which has reigned for 250 years, has been unprecedented and astonishing, although no one has really challenged its authority.
Two former parliament speakers led the charge.
"Don't play with fire. The country can't bear it - and those who play with fire could burn everything," outgoing speaker Jassem Al Khorafi told a large election rally, addressing the ruling family.
Khorafi, who is described as a close ally of the government and the ruling family as well, also cautioned family members not to interfere in the election.
Three-time speaker and prominent opposition politician Ahmed Al Saadun has also been blunt in his criticism, which he reiterated at almost every campaign rally that he addressed.
"Don't let a handful of family members spoil relations between you and the people," Saadun told "wise men in the ruling family."
"Any confrontation between any regime and the people can have only one outcome: the people win," Saadun said.
Several other candidates also accused senior members of the ruling establishment of working against the constitution and democracy.
But no one has questioned the legitimacy of the Sabah dynasty.
"We will never reach that level and no one is in fact trying to do so," liberal writer Ahmed Al Sarraf said. "We are happy with the ruling family and the constitution between them and the people. The criticism is just adding spice to the election campaign," Sarraf said.
"We respect the family and have always expressed our allegiance to it ... We just want no one to feel that the family's rule is imposed on us," Saadun said at a roundtable discussion with students earlier this month.
In some of the harshest comments heard during the campaign, a number of candidates have accused senior ruling family members, including the energy minister and one of the emir's sisters, of planning to tamper with election results.
Kuwait's ruling family was locked in its most serious succession crisis in a century following the death of emir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah on January 15.
The crisis was resolved 10 days later when parliament voted Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, who had been proclaimed the new emir, out of office on health grounds, and confirmed Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah as ruler.
It was the first time ever that the elected parliament had stepped in to resolve a crisis within the ruling family.
Kuwait was the first Gulf monarchy to introduce a constitution and a parliamentary system in 1962, and the ruling family has since been more tolerant of criticism than any of its counterparts in neighboring Gulf states.
Kuwait's rulers have allowed a wide margin of freedom, including a relatively free and lively press, and pride themselves on not having a single political prisoner in the emirate.
However, the ruling family has dissolved parliament four times in the past three decades, two of them without immediately calling fresh elections, after suspending clauses in the constitution.
In an apparent allusion to the sharp attacks on the leadership, Sheikh Sabah on Saturday deplored the "charges and the degeneration in the level of debate that marred the election campaign," warning that he would not allow anyone to "sabotage" Kuwaiti democracy.
Opposition groups and candidates have charged that part of the ruling family was forced to accept the constitution and has since 1962 been working against it.
Political groups have been pushing for long-delayed reforms, including the legalization of political parties, the redrawing of electoral boundaries to prevent corruption and an end to the ruling family's monopoly on top cabinet posts.
"The reform we want is to expand popular participation and to allow the people to get more involved in the running of their affairs and in the management of their wealth," liberal candidate and former MP Abdullah Al Nibari said.
OPEC member Kuwait is pumping 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and has state foreign assets of over $150 billion. Its native population is just 1 million.
Besides the emir and crown prince, the ruling family controls the premiership and all the so-called sovereign ministries like defense, interior and foreign affairs, in addition to oil.
"Why can't the interior minister be from Kuwaiti commoners? Don't they trust the people?" asked outgoing liberal MP Ali Al Rashed.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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