December 2012 Kuwaiti general election

Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 1 December 2012 after early elections in February 2012 were declared invalid.[1]

December 2012 Kuwaiti general election
Kuwait
1 December 2012

50 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout39.6% (Decrease 19.9pp)

In the elections, Shi'as won 17 out of 50 seats in the National Assembly,[2] an increase from the seven won in the February elections. Sunni Islamists were reduced to a minority.[2] 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.[3] The changes resulted in mass protests and an opposition boycott of the elections.[3] Shafeeq Ghabra, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at Kuwait University said that, "it's clear that the boycott was very successful."[4] The opposition rejected a unilateral amendment of the electoral law that reduced the number of votes per person from four to one.[5]

Results

District Candidate Votes % Notes
FirstKamel Mahmoud al-Awadhi5,74713.4Elected
Adnan Zahid Abdulsamad4,98611.6Elected
Faisal Saud Saleh Duwaisan4,85111.3Elected
Yusuf Sayed Zalzalah3,5008.2Elected
Massouma al-Mubarak3,1977.5Elected
Hamid Abbas Hussein Dashti2,7236.4Elected
Saleh Ashour2,2605.3Elected
Nawaf Suleiman al-Fezia2,1435.0Elected
Khalid Hussain al-Shatti1,9024.4Elected
Hussain Al-Qallaf Al-Bahrani1,6964.0Elected
41 other candidates9,83022.9
SecondAli Al-Rashid3,04111.6Elected
Adnan Ibrahim al-Mutawa2,6089.9Elected
Abdul Rahman al-Jiran2,3358.9Elected
Badr Rashid Bathali1,9197.3Elected
Adel Jarallah al-Kharafi1,8387.0Elected
Ahmed Lari1,6396.2Elected
Khalaf Al-Enezi1,5535.9Elected
Khalil Ibrahim Saleh1,4855.7Elected
Hamad Saif al-Hrchana1,0434.0Elected
Salah Abdullatif al-Ateeqi9103.5Elected
40 other candidates7,85730.0
ThirdAli al-Omair5,85015.2Elected
Khalil Abdullah Ali Abdullah3,88710.1Elected
Ahmed Al-Mulaifi2,9847.7Elected
Safa Abdulrahman al-Hashem2,6226.8Elected
Saadoun Hammad Otaibi2,1595.6Elected
Hisham Hussein al-Baghli2,0165.2Elected
Abdullah Yusuf Rajab Mayouf1,9525.1Elected
Nabil Nuri al-Fadl1,8834.9Elected
Yacoub Mohsen al-Sahneh1,3813.6Elected
Mohammed Nasser al-Jabri1,2503.2Elected
50 other candidates12,57032.6
FourthAskar Al-Enezi2,4798.0Elected
Saad al-Khanfour al-Rasheedi2,4698.0Elected
Saud Al-Harija2,0846.7Elected
Mubarak al-Khurainej1,7725.7Elected
Thekra Ayed al-Rashidi1,2824.1Elected
Khaled Rifai Mohammed Al-Shuleyma1,2364.0Elected
Mohammed Al-Rasheedi1,2133.9Elected
Mubarak Hamdan al-Orf1,1053.6Elected
Mishari Zahir al-Husseini1,1013.6Elected
Mubarak Saleh al-Nejadhu1,0853.5Elected
56 other candidates15,10748.8
FifthFaisal Mohammed al-Kandari3,57014.3Elected
Abdullah Ibrahim al-Tamimi2,93211.7Elected
Nasser Abdel al-Marri1,6676.7Elected
Hani Hussein Shams1,6666.7Elected
Essam Al-Dabbous1,3195.3Elected
Tahir Ali al-Failakawi8873.5Elected
Hammad Hammad al-Dossari8823.5Elected
Khaled Salem al-Ajmi8513.4Elected
Saad Fahad al-Bous7913.2Elected
Nasser Abdullah al-Shammari5192.1Elected
70 other candidates9,93239.7
Invalid/blank votes3,639
Total167,205100
Registered voters/turnout422,56939.6
Source: Adam Carr

Aftermath

On 5 December, despite calls for political reforms, Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah was reappointed Prime Minister.[6] In the opening session of the Assembly, Ali al-Rashid was elected Speaker.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ali Al-RashidIndependent3352.38
Ali al-OmairIndependent2641.27
Ahmed Al-MulaifiIndependent46.35
Total63100.00
Valid votes63100.00
Invalid/blank votes00.00
Total votes63100.00
Registered voters/turnout6596.92

In June 2013, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of fresh elections.[3]

References

  1. "Kuwait calls December election after months of unrest". BBC. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  2. "Shia minority makes gains in Kuwait election". Al Jazeera. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. Kuwait elections: Constitutional Court orders fresh poll BBC News, 16 June 2013
  4. Hall, Camila (2 December 2012). "Kuwait suffers lowest election turnout". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  5. Black, Ian (2 December 2012). "Kuwait election turnout shrinks after opposition boycott". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  6. "Protests continue in Kuwait as emir reappoints PM". Al Bawaba. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
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