2016 Kuwaiti general election

Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 26 November 2016. They follow the dissolution of the parliament elected in 2013 by Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in October 2016.[1] Under the constitution, elections must be held within two months.[2] Opposition candidates won 24 of the 50 seats in the National Assembly.[3] Voter turnout was around 70 percent.[3]

2016 Kuwaiti general election
Kuwait
← 2013 26 November 2016 2020 →

50 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout65.2% (Increase 13.3pp)

Electoral system

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The 50 elected members of the National Assembly were elected from five 10-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote.[4]

Results

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Opposition Islamist candidates (Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi) won around half of the 24 seats won by the opposition, whilst the Shia minority was reduced to six seats from ten seats.[5][6] One woman was elected, with only around 20 of the 42 MPs seeking re-election retaining their seats.[7] Members of Kuwait's largest tribes together won just seven seats in the election, down from fifteen.[8]

Constituency Candidate Votes Notes
First Constituency Adnan Zahid Abdulsamad 4,287 Elected
Essa Ahmad Al-Kanderi 4,077 Elected
Mohammad Mirwi Al-Hadiyah 3,016 Elected
Adel Jassem Al-Damkhi 2,758 Elected
Abdullah Al-Roumi 2,731 Elected
Saleh Ashour 2,541 Elected
Mubarak Salem Al-Harees 2,444 Elected
Osama Essa Al-Shaheen 2,270 Elected
Khaled Hussein Al-Shatti 2,166 Elected
Salah Abduredha Khourshid 2,131 Elected
Second Constituency Marzouq Al-Ghanim 4,119 Elected
Riyadh Ahmad Al-Adsani 3,578 Elected
Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saleh 2,914 Elected
Jamaan Thaher Al-Herbish 2,432 Elected
Hamad Seif Al-Harshani 2,341 Elected
Mohammed Al-Mutair 2,172 Elected
Khalaf Dumaitheer Al-Enizi 1,942 Elected
Rakan Al-Nisf 1,888 Elected
Oudah Oudah Al-Ruwaiee 1,772 Elected
Omar Al-Tabtabaee 1,755 Elected
Third Constituency Abdulwahab Al-Babtain 3,730 Elected
Sadoon Al-Otaibi 3,444 Elected
Youssef Saleh Al-Fedhalah 3,399 Elected
Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi 3,325 Elected
Safaa Abdurrahman Al-Hashim 3,273 Elected
Mohammad Hussein Al-Dalaal 2,533 Elected
Waleed Al-Tabtabaie 2,504 Elected
Khalil Abdullah Abul 2,443 Elected
Mohammad Nasser Al-Jabri 2,219 Elected
Ahmad Nabil Al-Fadhel 2,124 Elected
Fourth Constituency Thamer Saad Al-Thifeeri 5,601 Elected
Mubarak Haif Al-Hajraf 4,621 Elected
Mohammed Hayef Al-Mutairi 4,506 Elected
Saad Ali Al-Rusheedi 3,811 Elected
Abdullah Fahad Al-Enizi 3,545 Elected
Shueib Shabab Al-Muweizri 3,528 Elected
Ali Salem Al-Deqbasi 3,379 Elected
Askar Auwayed Al-Enizi 2,972 Elected
Saud Mohammad Al-Shuwaier 2,897 Elected
Marzouq Khalifa Al-Khalifa 2,874 Elected
Fifth Constituency Humoud Abdullah Al-Khudeir 5,072 Elected
Hamdan Salem Al-Azmi 5,038 Elected
Al-Humaidi Bader Al-Subaiee 4,660 Elected
Talal Saad Al-Jalaal 4,299 Elected
Faisal Mohammad Al-Kanderi 4,114 Elected
Khaled Mohammad Al-Otaibi 3,998 Elected
Majed Musaaed Al-Mutairi 3,821 Elected
Nayef Abdulaziz Al-Ajmi 3,769 Elected
Nasser Saad Al-Doussari 3,296 Elected
Mohammad Hadi Al-Huweila 2,851 Elected
Source: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Aftermath

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Following the elections, a new Speaker of the National Assembly was elected on 11 December. Marzouq Al-Ghanim was elected with 48 votes, defeating Abdullah Al-Roumi (9 votes) and Shuaib Al-Muwaizri (8 votes).

CandidatePartyVotes%
Marzouq Al-GhanimIndependent4873.85
Abdullah Al-RoumiIndependent913.85
Shuaib Al-MuwaizriIndependent812.31
Total65100.00
Valid votes65100.00
Invalid/blank votes00.00
Total votes65100.00
Registered voters/turnout65100.00

References

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  1. ^ Kuwait emir dissolves parliament over fuel price row BBC News, 16 October 2016
  2. ^ Stage set for snap elections after Assembly dissolved – Amir cites ‘security challenges’ in dissolution decree Kuwait Times, 16 October 2016
  3. ^ a b Kuwait poll: Opposition wins nearly half of parliament Al Jazeera, 27 November 2016
  4. ^ Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union
  5. ^ "The Danger to Kuwait is Authoritarianism". The Shia currently hold 10 out of 50 seats in the National Assembly and have generally served as a bulwark against the opposition since 2008.
  6. ^ Sectarianism and authoritarianism in Kuwait Washington Times
  7. ^ Strong showing by opposition, outgoing Assembly punished Kuwait Times, 27 November 2016
  8. ^ After big election win, what’s next for Kuwait’s opposition? Courtney Freer, Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, 8 December 2016