0 vote(s)
Shiite candidates win 17 of the 50-seat parliament, their biggest tally ever, as they refused to join calls by the Sunni-dominated opposition to boycott the polls in protest against the amendment of electoral law.
The Kuwaitis voted on Saturday to elect the second parliament in ten months after Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved a pro-government parliament following its reinstatement in June by a court ruling.
Shias with 30 percent of Kuwait’s native population of 1.2 million had lawmakers in the previous parliament elected in 2009.
According to results released by the National Election Commission, 33 new faces including three women were elected to the new parliament.
The Kuwaiti Information Ministry said the voter turnout was 38.8 percent, but the opposition reported lower percentages.
The opposition Popular Committee for Boycotting Election called the new assembly “illegitimate,” saying that the new parliament “does not represent the majority of Kuwaiti people and has lost popular and political legitimacy.”
One day before the elections, tens of thousands of Kuwaiti opposition activists held a demonstration urging people not to vote in protest against the change to electoral rules, which they say will skew the outcome in favor of pro-government candidates.
The opposition called for protests after the government announced last month it was holding elections on December 1 and would change the electoral law “to preserve national unity.”
The Kuwaiti emir used emergency powers in October to cut the number of votes per citizen to one from four.
However, activists say the decision to change the legislation by the emir, whose family has ruled Kuwait for more than 250 years, is aimed at electing a rubber-stamp parliament.
Kuwait was the first Arab state in the Persian Gulf to establish an elected parliament in 1962. However, the al-Sabah family remained in control of most key posts, including the premiership and the ministries of defense, interior, and foreign affairs.
