2020 Kuwaiti general election
General elections were held in Kuwait on 5 December 2020.[1][2][3] Two-thirds of the incumbents lost their seats, including the 2016 parliament's sole woman MP Safa Al Hashem.[4]
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Kuwait |
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Member State of the Arab League |
Kuwait portal |
Background
Registration of candidates contesting for the 50 seats of the National Assembly took place between 26 October and 4 November 2020.[5][6] 102 schools were used for the 2020 National Assembly elections on December 5.[7] Each school had a clinic set up to check on the health condition of all those entering.[8]
Electoral system
The 50 elected members of the National Assembly are elected from five 10-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote.[9] Political parties are not officially licensed, therefore candidates run as individuals, although many political groups operate freely as de facto political parties.[10] All Kuwaiti citizens (both male and female) above the age of 21 have the right to vote. Expatriate workers, who constituted 70% of the population, were not enfranchised.
Results
Overall, opposition candidates won 24 seats, up from 16 in the previous parliament. The election was seen as a victory for the anti-government opposition bloc. Thirty of the elected candidates were under the age of 45; whilst there were 29 female candidates, none were elected, leaving the parliament without a female MP for the first time since the year 2012.[10]
Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
First Constituency | Hassan Abdullah Johar | 5,849 | Elected |
Yusuf Fahad Al-Ghurayyeb | 5,064 | Elected | |
Ahmad Khalifa Al-Shuhoomi | 4,129 | Elected | |
Hamad Ahmad Rouhuddine | 3,783 | Elected | |
Essa Ahmad Al-Kandari | 3,398 | Elected | |
Ali Abdulrasoul Al-Qattan | 3,320 | Elected | |
Adnan Abdulsamad Zahed | 3,052 | Elected | |
Abdullah Mohammad Al-Turaiji | 2,472 | Elected | |
Abdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf | 3,437 | Elected | |
Osama Essa Al-Shaheen | 2,167 | Elected | |
Second Constituency | Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim | 5,179 | Elected |
Mohammad Barrak Al-Mutair | 3,456 | Elected | |
Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saleh | 3,117 | Elected | |
Hammad Mohammad Al-Matar | 2,903 | Elected | |
Salman Khaled Al-Azmi | 2,866 | Elected | |
Khaled Ayed Al-Enezi | 2,565 | Elected | |
Bader Nasser Al-Humaidi | 2,534 | Elected | |
Bader Hamed Al-Mulla | 2,483 | Elected | |
Hamad Saif Al-Harshani | 2,208 | Elected | |
Ahmad Mohammad Al-Hamad | 2,195 | Elected | |
Third Constituency | Abdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari | 5,585 | Elected |
Osama Ahmad Al-Munawer | 3,858 | Elected | |
Muhannad Talal Al-Sayer | 3,565 | Elected | |
Hesham Abdulsamad Al-Saleh | 3,345 | Elected | |
Abdulaziz Tareq Al-Saqabi | 3,340 | Elected | |
Yusuf Saleh Al-Fadhalah | 2,992 | Elected | |
Mubarak Zaid Al-Mutairi | 2,982 | Elected | |
Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi | 2,979 | Elected | |
Fares Saad Al-Otaibi | 2,942 | Elected | |
Muhalhal Khaled Al-Mudhaf | 2,904 | Elected | |
Fourth Constituency | Shuaib Shabbab Al-Muwaizri | 6,200 | Elected |
Fayez Ghannam Al-Mutairi | 5,774 | Elected | |
Musa'ad Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi | 5,750 | Elected | |
Mohammad Obaid Al-Rajhi | 5,198 | Elected | |
Saud Saad Al-Mutairi | 5,100 | Elected | |
Thamer Saad Al-Dhefeeri | 4,935 | Elected | |
Marzouq Khalifa Al-Khalifa | 4,760 | Elected | |
Farz Mohammad Al-Daihani | 4,701 | Elected | |
Saad Ali Al-Rashidi | 4,520 | Elected | |
Mubarak Haif Al-Hajraf | 4,422 | Elected | |
Fifth Constituency | Hamdan Salem Al-Azmi | 8,387 | Elected |
Bader Zayed Al-Azmi | 8,371 | Elected | |
Mubarak Abdullah Al-Ajmi | 6,801 | Elected | |
Al-Saifi Mubarak Al-Ajmi | 6,294 | Elected | |
Khaled Mohammad Al-Otaibi | 5,387 | Elected | |
Humoud Mebrek Al-Azmi | 5,347 | Elected | |
Saleh Theyab Al-Mutairi | 5,113 | Elected | |
Nasser Saad Al-Doseri | 4,750 | Elected | |
Mohammad Hadi Al-Huweila | 4,720 | Elected | |
Ahmad Abdullah Al-Azmi | 4,651 | Elected | |
Source: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) |
Aftermath
Following the elections, a new Speaker of the National Assembly was elected on 15 December. Incumbent Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim was re-elected with 33 votes, defeating Bader Nasser Al-Humaidi, who received 28. Four members did not vote.
Parliament unanimously approved a motion of noncooperation, meaning the cabinet must be replaced.[11]
References
- @CGCKuwait (19 October 2020). "وافق مجلس الوزراء على مشروع مرسوم بدعوة الناخبين لانتخابات مجلس الأمة للفصل التشريعي السادس عشر وذلك يوم السبت الموافق ٥ ديسمبر ٢٠٢٠" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.
- "Decree sets Dec 5 general elections". Arab Times. 19 October 2020.
- "Kuwait sets parliamentary elections for December 5". Kuwait Times. 19 October 2020.
- "Kuwait election sees two-thirds of parliament lose seats". yahoo.com. AP. 5 December 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- @CGCKuwait (24 October 2020). "يفتح باب الترشيح لانتخاب أعضاء مجلس الأمة اعتباراً من صباح يوم الاثنين الموافق 26/10/2020 ويستمر حتى نهاية الدوام الرسمي ليوم الاربعاء الموافق 4/11/2020 #CGCKuwait" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.
- "Registration for Assembly polls opens on Oct 26". Kuwait Times. 24 October 2020.
- "102 Schools for 2020 Polls". Arab Times. 21 October 2020.
- "Kuwait PM: Health precautions must be respected at electoral locations". Kuwait News Agency KUNA. 25 October 2020.
- Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union
- "Kuwait polls: Opposition makes gains, gov't resignation accepted". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/kuwaits-minority-government-bows-out-after-a-month-655371