Shiites win big for first time in Kuwaiti elections history

A Kuwaiti judge (R) and his aide count the ballots at a polling station Kuwait City – Hazem Khalaf According to official results announced today by the Kuwaiti National Election Commission, the Kuwaiti parliamentary elections held Sunday have seen the election of 17 Shiite candidates, representing 34 percent of the 50-seat National Assembly. This is the first time in Kuwait’s history that Shiites have achieved this level of representation, as women also made a strong comeback to the legislative body with the election of three female MPs following a women-free chamber.
Shiite candidates won eight out of the first constituency’s 10 seats, as well as three seats in the second and fifth constituencies and one in the fourth constituency. Shiites candidates have also won two seats in the third constituency for which final results are yet to be officially announced.
The opposition was nowhere to be seen, with the parliamentary elections boycotted by such opposition parties as the Democratic Forum, the Popular Action Bloc, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Constitutional Movement and the National Democratic Alliance.
Results show the absence of representation for Kuwait’s two largest tribes (which make up 18 percent of the country’s population) after they boycotted the election. Other tribes were represented in parliament for the first time, as only two seats went to Islamist candidates. The Islamists had won 20 seats in the previous chamber.
Opposition believes the boycott was adopted by 70 percent of the population, depriving the newly elected chamber of popular legitimacy. Former Speaker of the National Assembly Ahmed al-Saadoun described the elected assembly as “Politically and popularly void,” adding “if it continues, we will continue to agitate until it is brought down.”
The opposition’s Popular Committee for Boycotting the Election said turnout did not exceed 26 percent as 30 MPs held to be allied to former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Muhammad. This, opposition said, could either mean al-Muhammed’s return to his former position or “exhausting al-Mubarak with questioning sessions.”
Analysts have pointed out that lawsuits calling for the striking off of many first-time MPs from the candidates list are still before the courts, which may result in the annulment of their memberships in the near future.
Opposition also indicated that the new parliament has seen the return of the phenomenon known in opposition circles as “paid-for MPs.”
This round of elections is the first to be governed by decree no. 21/2012, which altered the voting mechanism from four to one, with each voter casting his or her ballot for only one candidate, unlike the system used since 2008.
Government loyalists believe the new election system reveals each candidate’s true electoral base, sidestepping the faults on the previous method. The old four-vote system, they say, benefits certain currents and large tribal blocs through alliances and exchanging votes. This, supporters say, quadrupled the electoral base without any real conviction on the part of voters, depriving many independents, minority candidates  and political currents with limited electoral bases of the opportunity to win parliamentary seats.
National Assembly results published Sunday morning on the Ministry of Information’s website announced a comeback for women to the National Assembly. In a new accomplishment for women in Kuwait, three female representatives were elected for parliament.
The pioneering MPs are Maassouma al-Mubarak, Safaa al-Hashim and Thikra al-Rashidi.
Polling stations closed their doors Saturday night after a noticeable late surge in voter turnout in the last few hours of polling despite calls by the opposition to boycott the elections in protest of changes in voting regulations. The opposition said the amendment “benefited the government’s candidates.”
In an interview with Sky News Arabia conducted shortly after the polls closed, Kuwait’s Information Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah al-Mubarak al-Sabbah said he had noticed in his tour of a number of polling stations during the last hours of polling that voter turnout was high. The minister said he was “satisfied” with the levels of participation, despite admitting that the boycott campaign had “weakened the overall percentage.”
Five parliamentary elections have taken place in Kuwait since 2006 after the National Assembly was repeatedly dissolved in the course of conflict between elected representatives and the cabinet appointed by a prime minister selected by the Emir. No parliament has completed its four-year term set in the country’s constitution since.
The opposition had made great inroads in the last legislative elections held in February, grabbing 35 seats. Kuwait’s Constitutional Court, however, annulled the election results in June and reinstated the chamber elected in 2009 which was dominated by tamer opposition figures. The move triggered a political crisis that prompted Emir Sabbah Al Ahmed to dissolve the parliament and call fresh elections.