December 2012 Kuwaiti general election

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

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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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
First 5,747 13.4 Elected
Adnan Zahid Abdulsamad 4,986 11.6 Elected
4,851 11.3 Elected
3,500 8.2 Elected
Massouma al-Mubarak 3,197 7.5 Elected
2,723 6.4 Elected
Saleh Ashour 2,260 5.3 Elected
2,143 5.0 Elected
1,902 4.4 Elected
Hussain Al-Qallaf Al-Bahrani 1,696 4.0 Elected
41 other candidates 9,830 22.9
Second Ali Al-Rashid 3,041 11.6 Elected
2,608 9.9 Elected
2,335 8.9 Elected
1,919 7.3 Elected
1,838 7.0 Elected
Ahmed Lari 1,639 6.2 Elected
Khalaf Al-Enezi 1,553 5.9 Elected
1,485 5.7 Elected
1,043 4.0 Elected
910 3.5 Elected
40 other candidates 7,857 30.0
Third Ali al-Omair 5,850 15.2 Elected
3,887 10.1 Elected
Ahmed Al-Mulaifi 2,984 7.7 Elected
Safa Abdulrahman al-Hashem 2,622 6.8 Elected
2,159 5.6 Elected
2,016 5.2 Elected
1,952 5.1 Elected
1,883 4.9 Elected
1,381 3.6 Elected
1,250 3.2 Elected
50 other candidates 12,570 32.6
Fourth Askar Al-Enezi 2,479 8.0 Elected
Saad al-Khanfour al-Rasheedi 2,469 8.0 Elected
2,084 6.7 Elected
1,772 5.7 Elected
1,282 4.1 Elected
1,236 4.0 Elected
Mohammed Al-Rasheedi 1,213 3.9 Elected
1,105 3.6 Elected
1,101 3.6 Elected
1,085 3.5 Elected
56 other candidates 15,107 48.8
Fifth 3,570 14.3 Elected
2,932 11.7 Elected
1,667 6.7 Elected
1,666 6.7 Elected
1,319 5.3 Elected
887 3.5 Elected
882 3.5 Elected
851 3.4 Elected
791 3.2 Elected
519 2.1 Elected
70 other candidates 9,932 39.7
Invalid/blank votes 3,639 – –
Total 167,205 100
Registered voters/turnout 422,569 39.6
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 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. ^ Jump up to: a b "Shia minority makes gains in Kuwait election". Al Jazeera. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c 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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