Parliament session at the Kuwait's National Assembly in Kuwait City. (File photo: AFP)
KUWAIT: Kuwait will hold its sixth parliamentary election in seven years on July 25, a snap vote ordered by the top court after the assembly was dissolved earlier this week in another sign of political turmoil in the country.
Almost constant factional infighting and disarray has stalled infrastructure development and held up economic reforms.
On Sunday, opposition supporters lost a legal fight to undo changes to the voting system they said favour pro-government candidates — a dispute which aggravated political tensions. But the Constitutional Court found fault in the process leading up to the last election in December and ordered a new ballot for the 50-member assembly.
“At an extraordinary meeting today, the cabinet approved a draft decree, inviting voters to elect members of the National Assembly on July 25,” the state news agency Kuna quoted Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al Mubarak Al Sabah as saying yesterday. The date falls during Ramadan.
Kuwait’s parliament gives its people greater say than in other Gulf Arab states, although the Emir has the final word in state matters.
Opposition politicians boycotted the last election in protest against changes to the voting system decreed by the Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah six weeks ago.
The government says the new rules brought Kuwait’s system in line with voting systems elsewhere in the world. Under the old system, voters were allowed to cast ballots for up to four candidates, which the opposition said allowed alliances that partly made up for the absence of parties. The new system allows votes for a single candidate, which the opposition says makes alliances difficult.
The Emir said the changes aimed to ensure security and stability after policymaking stalled in the previous opposition-dominated parliament.
Prominent Islamist and populist opposition politicians have said they will not stand in any future election under the one-vote system but some liberals and Salafi Islamists have said they will compete, splitting the opposition. Reuters
