General elections were held in Kuwait on 29 September 2022 following the dissolution of parliament by Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. However, the results were annulled by the Constitutional Court on 19 March 2023 after judges ruled that the previous parliament had not been dissolved properly.
Background On 22 June Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced the dissolution of Parliament. On 28 August, the Kuwaiti Cabinet approved the decree calling for elections on 29 September.
Electoral system The 50 elected members of the National Assembly are elected from five 10-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote.Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union Political parties are not officially licensed, therefore candidates run as individuals, although many political groups operate freely as de facto political parties. All Kuwaiti citizens (both male and female) above the age of 21 have the right to vote.
Candidates Registration of candidates contesting the 50 seats took place between 29 August and 7 September 2022. 118 schools were used for the 2022 National Assembly elections on 29 September. A total of 305 candidates, including 22 women, were registered.
While the previous elections in 2020 were affected by anti-coronavirus measures, this time candidates were able to open electoral offices and hold live hustings. Security services stepped up their monitoring of vote buying.
Results Turnout was 63.30 % with 503,811 voters for a total of 795,911 registered voters.. Opposition politicians were reported to have made significant gains. Islamists, including many affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, established themselves in parliament, while Shi’ites displaced palace-aligned Sunni candidates. Many reformist candidates, including two women, also won seats.
Elected members ConstituencyCandidateVotesFirstAbdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf6,375Hassan Abdullah Johar6,332Osama Zaid Al-Zaid5,764Ahmed Haji Larry4,104Essa Ahmad Al-Kandari3,683Adel Jassim Al-Damkhi3,403Osama Essa Al-Shaheen2,889Saleh Ashour2,867Hamad Mohammed Al-Medlej2,826Khaled Marzouq Al-Ameera2,228SecondBader Hamed Al-Mulla7,285Mohammad Barrak Al-Mutair4,364Shuaib Shabaan3,394Hamed Mahri Al-Bathali3,374Khalil Ibrahim Al-Shalih2,949Falah Dhahi Al-Hajri2,921Aliya Faisal Al-Khaled2,472Hamad Mohammad Al-Matar2,460Abdulwahab Aref Al-Issa2,056Abdullah Turki Al-Anbaie1,922ThirdAhmed Abdulaziz al-Sadoun12,239Muhalhal Khaled Al-Mudhaf7,005Abdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari6,915Muhannad Talal Al-Sayer5,998Abdulaziz Tareq Al-Saqabi5,329Jenan Boushehri4,301Ammar Muhammad Al-Ajmi3,784Hamad Adel Al-Obeid3,376Faris Saad Al-Otaibi3,189Khalil Abdullah Apple2,963FourthShueib Shabab Al-Muweizri8,995Mohammed Hayef Al-Mutairi7,266Mubarak Hammoud Al-Tasha7,098Mubarak Haif Al-Hajraf6,342Thamer Saad Al-Thifeeri5,597Marzouq Khalifa Al-Khalifa5,170Saad Ali Al-Rusheedi5,007Obaid Mohammed Al-Mutairi4,834Abdullah Fahad Al-Enizi4,825Yousef Mohammed Al-Bathali4,735FifthHamdan Salem Al-Azmi10,799Saud Abdulaziz Al-Hajri10,252Khaled Mohammad Al-Otaibi9,243Hani Hussein Shams6,814Mohammad Hadi Al-Huweila6,765Al-Saifi Mubarak Al-Ajmi6,525Mohammed Hussain Al-Ajmi5,725Majed Mussaed Al-Mutairi5,465Marzouq Faleh Al-Hbaini4,830Faisal Mohammed Al-Kandari4,530Source: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Aftermath On 18 October 2022 Ahmed Al-Sadoun was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly unopposed. However on 19 March 2023 the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of reinstating the previous parliament elected in 2020, citing discrepancies in the decree dissolving the previous parliament. In May crown prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dissolved Parliament and called for election on 6 June 2023.
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