Caryle Murphy

About the Author: Caryle Murphy is a reporter for The Washington Post.

The emir of Kuwait has announced that parliamentary elections will be held in October 1992, fulfilling a key promise he made when his country was liberated in February, but opposition leaders see the move as too little, too late.

Moving to quell rising discontent with his government since liberation, Emir Jabir Ahmed Sabah also ordered the National Council to reconvene to prepare for the election. By setting a firm election date, the emir is seeking to defuse opposition criticism that he was trying to delay the vote indefinitely. But opposition leaders complain that October of 1992 is too long a delay.

The election dispute is only one among scores of postwar problems that appear to be moving this...