Kuwaiti citizens voted to replace over half of the lawmakers in the country's 50-member National Assembly and elected two women to the legislature, local media reported on Friday
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2022) Kuwaiti citizens voted to replace over half of the lawmakers in the country's 50-member National Assembly and elected two women to the legislature, local media reported on Friday.
The National Assembly of Kuwait will include 27 new members, around a dozen of whom were part of previous parliaments, KUNA news agency said. Although many female candidates received a high percentage of votes, only two women were elected, it added.
The country's Shiite community also strengthened its position in the new parliament, with the number of Shiite deputies increasing from six to nine, the agency said. The traditionalists from the Islamic Constitutional Movement also boasted good results in the elections. However, representatives of the tribes lost their positions, giving up six of the 29 parliamentary mandates, the agency noted.
According to the Kuwaiti media, the renewed parliament has a "youthful face," since many young people were elected, continuing the trend of the 2020 elections.
On Thursday, thousands of Kuwaitis went to the polls to elect the 50-member assembly, choosing out of 305 candidates, including 22 women. The lawmakers will be in office for the next four years. The parliament had been all-male since the only female lawmaker lost her seat in December 2020.
In June, Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal, on behalf of the emir, dissolved the parliament after a prolonged gridlock between the Cabinet, which is appointed by the royal family, and the 50-member assembly. Since new Emir Nawaf Al-Sabah came to power in Kuwait in September 2020, he has had to dismiss the government four times already.�
