Kuwait’s Islamist-led opposition has won a landslide majority in Kuwait’s snap polls by securing 34 seats in the 50-member parliament, with women and liberals the big losers, results showed Friday. Sunni Islamists, including Salafists, took 23 seats compared with just nine in the dissolved parliament, while liberals claimed only two places against five previously, according the official results. And no women were elected, with the four female MPs of the previous parliament all losing their seats. Voters punished pro-government MPs during Thursday’s parliamentary election, reducing them to a small minority, the results showed.
Only two of 13 former MPs who the public prosecutor questioned over corruption charges were re-elected, and the rest either lost or did not contest the poll. Following the announcement of the results, hundreds of opposition supporters gathered at the campaign tents of candidates they backed to celebrate the outcome. Speaking after his victory, new opposition MP Obaid al-Wasmi warned all “corruption files will be opened,” including claims that hundreds of millions of public funds were stolen. “I tell the decision-makers that the Kuwait of tomorrow will not be the same as of the Kuwait of yesterday,” said the outspoken independent opposition figure. “The law will be applied to all, and those who do not want the law to be applied to them should leave Kuwait,” the professor of law told cheering supporters. The Sunni Islamists consist of Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood, both of which won all four seats they contested compared with two and one, respectively, in the old parliament. Independent Islamists who represent tribes garnered nine seats.
Overall, the opposition scored strongly in the two tribal-dominated constituencies, winning 18 of the 20 available seats. Kuwait is divided into five electoral districts, with each electing 10 lawmakers. The nationalist Popular Action Bloc, headed by veteran opposition MP Ahmad al-Saadun, boosted its strength to five members from four with several supporters. Saadun is expected to become speaker of the new parliament. Opposition candidates contested the election on the platform of fighting corruption, calling for fundamental political reforms and implementing projects. Ahead of the results, Islamist MP Waleed al-Tabtabai had said the opposition plans to submit a series of reformist bills, especially to fight corruption and reform the election law.
