Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 1 December 2012 after early elections in February 2012 were declared invalid.
In the elections, Shi'as won 17 out of 50 seats in the National Assembly, an increase from the seven won in the February elections. Sunni Islamists were reduced to a minority. Three women also entered the Parliament compared to men-only from the February election, but their number decreased compared to the 2009 election.
Turnout was officially reported to be 43%, the lowest in the Kuwaiti electoral history.
Background Six weeks before the elections, the electoral system was changed to single non-transferable vote, with voters restricted to voting for only one candidate, having previously been allowed to vote for four under multiple non-transferable vote. The changes resulted in mass protests and an opposition boycott of the elections. Shafeeq Ghabra, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at Kuwait University said that, "it's clear that the boycott was very successful." The opposition rejected a unilateral amendment of the electoral law that reduced the number of votes per person from four to one.
Results DistrictCandidateVotes%NotesFirstKamel Mahmoud al-Awadhi5,74713.4ElectedAdnan Zahid Abdulsamad4,98611.6ElectedFaisal Saud Saleh Duwaisan4,85111.3ElectedYusuf Sayed Zalzalah3,5008.2ElectedMassouma al-Mubarak3,1977.5ElectedHamid Abbas Hussein Dashti2,7236.4ElectedSaleh Ashour2,2605.3ElectedNawaf Suleiman al-Fezia2,1435.0ElectedKhalid Hussain al-Shatti1,9024.4ElectedHussain Al-Qallaf Al-Bahrani1,6964.0Elected41 other candidates9,83022.9SecondAli Al-Rashid3,04111.6ElectedAdnan Ibrahim al-Mutawa2,6089.9ElectedAbdul Rahman al-Jiran2,3358.9ElectedBadr Rashid Bathali1,9197.3ElectedAdel Jarallah al-Kharafi1,8387.0ElectedAhmed Lari1,6396.2ElectedKhalaf Al-Enezi1,5535.9ElectedKhalil Ibrahim Saleh1,4855.7ElectedHamad Saif al-Hrchana1,0434.0ElectedSalah Abdullatif al-Ateeqi9103.5Elected40 other candidates7,85730.0ThirdAli al-Omair5,85015.2ElectedKhalil Abdullah Ali Abdullah3,88710.1ElectedAhmed Al-Mulaifi2,9847.7ElectedSafa Abdulrahman al-Hashem2,6226.8ElectedSaadoun Hammad Otaibi2,1595.6ElectedHisham Hussein al-Baghli2,0165.2ElectedAbdullah Yusuf Rajab Mayouf1,9525.1ElectedNabil Nuri al-Fadl1,8834.9ElectedYacoub Mohsen al-Sahneh1,3813.6ElectedMohammed Nasser al-Jabri1,2503.2Elected50 other candidates12,57032.6FourthAskar Al-Enezi2,4798.0ElectedSaad al-Khanfour al-Rasheedi2,4698.0ElectedSaud Al-Harija2,0846.7ElectedMubarak al-Khurainej1,7725.7ElectedThekra Ayed al-Rashidi1,2824.1ElectedKhaled Rifai Mohammed Al-Shuleyma1,2364.0ElectedMohammed Al-Rasheedi1,2133.9ElectedMubarak Hamdan al-Orf1,1053.6ElectedMishari Zahir al-Husseini1,1013.6ElectedMubarak Saleh al-Nejadhu1,0853.5Elected56 other candidates15,10748.8FifthFaisal Mohammed al-Kandari3,57014.3ElectedAbdullah Ibrahim al-Tamimi2,93211.7ElectedNasser Abdel al-Marri1,6676.7ElectedHani Hussein Shams1,6666.7ElectedEssam Al-Dabbous1,3195.3ElectedTahir Ali al-Failakawi8873.5ElectedHammad Hammad al-Dossari8823.5ElectedKhaled Salem al-Ajmi8513.4ElectedSaad Fahad al-Bous7913.2ElectedNasser Abdullah al-Shammari5192.1Elected70 other candidates9,93239.7Invalid/blank votes3,639––Total167,205100Registered voters/turnout422,56939.6Source: Adam Carr
Aftermath On 5 December, despite calls for political reforms, Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah was reappointed Prime Minister. In the opening session of the Assembly, Ali al-Rashid was elected Speaker.
In June 2013, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of fresh elections.Kuwait elections: Constitutional Court orders fresh poll BBC News, 16 June 2013
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