2020 Kuwaiti general election
Kuwait
5 December 2020
50 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout69.4% (Increase 4.2pp)

General elections were held in Kuwait on 5 December 2020.[1][2][3] Two-thirds of the incumbents lost their seats, including the 2016 parliament's sole woman MP Safa Al Hashem.[4]

Background

Registration of candidates contesting for the 50 seats of the National Assembly took place between 26 October and 4 November 2020.[5][6] 102 schools were used for the 2020 National Assembly elections on December 5.[7] Each school had a clinic set up to check on the health condition of all those entering.[8]

Electoral system

The 50 elected members of the National Assembly are elected from five 10-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote.[9] Political parties are not officially licensed, therefore candidates run as individuals, although many political groups operate freely as de facto political parties.[10] All Kuwaiti citizens (both male and female) above the age of 21 have the right to vote. Expatriate workers, who constituted 70% of the population, were not enfranchised.

Results

Overall, opposition candidates won 24 seats, up from 16 in the previous parliament. The election was seen as a victory for the anti-government opposition bloc. Thirty of the elected candidates were under the age of 45; whilst there were 29 female candidates, none were elected, leaving the parliament without a female MP for the first time since the year 2012.[10] There was a total of 567,694 registered voters, of which 394,131 cast a valid vote.[11]

Constituency Candidate Votes Notes
First ConstituencyHassan Abdullah Johar5,849Elected
Yusuf Fahad Al-Ghurayyeb5,064Elected
Ahmad Khalifa Al-Shuhoomi4,129Elected
Hamad Ahmad Rouhuddine3,783Elected
Essa Ahmad Al-Kandari3,398Elected
Ali Abdulrasoul Al-Qattan3,320Elected
Adnan Abdulsamad Zahed3,052Elected
Abdullah Mohammad Al-Turaiji2,472Elected
Abdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf3,437Elected
Osama Essa Al-Shaheen2,167Elected
Second ConstituencyMarzouq Ali Al-Ghanim5,179Elected
Mohammad Barrak Al-Mutair3,456Elected
Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saleh3,117Elected
Hammad Mohammad Al-Matar2,903Elected
Salman Khaled Al-Azmi2,866Elected
Khaled Ayed Al-Enezi2,565Elected
Bader Nasser Al-Humaidi2,534Elected
Bader Hamed Al-Mulla2,483Elected
Hamad Saif Al-Harshani2,208Elected
Ahmad Mohammad Al-Hamad2,195Elected
Third ConstituencyAbdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari5,585Elected
Osama Ahmad Al-Munawer3,858Elected
Muhannad Talal Al-Sayer3,565Elected
Hesham Abdulsamad Al-Saleh3,345Elected
Abdulaziz Tareq Al-Saqabi3,340Elected
Yusuf Saleh Al-Fadhalah2,992Elected
Mubarak Zaid Al-Mutairi2,982Elected
Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi2,979Elected
Fares Saad Al-Otaibi2,942Elected
Muhalhal Khaled Al-Mudhaf2,904Elected
Fourth ConstituencyShuaib Shabbab Al-Muwaizri6,200Elected
Fayez Ghannam Al-Mutairi5,774Elected
Musa'ad Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi5,750Elected
Mohammad Obaid Al-Rajhi5,198Elected
Saud Saad Al-Mutairi5,100Elected
Thamer Saad Al-Dhefeeri4,935Elected
Marzouq Khalifa Al-Khalifa4,760Elected
Farz Mohammad Al-Daihani4,701Elected
Saad Ali Al-Rashidi4,520Elected
Mubarak Haif Al-Hajraf4,422Elected
Fifth ConstituencyHamdan Salem Al-Azmi8,387Elected
Bader Zayed Al-Azmi8,371Elected
Mubarak Abdullah Al-Ajmi6,801Elected
Al-Saifi Mubarak Al-Ajmi6,294Elected
Khaled Mohammad Al-Otaibi5,387Elected
Humoud Mebrek Al-Azmi5,347Elected
Saleh Theyab Al-Mutairi5,113Elected
Nasser Saad Al-Doseri 4,750Elected
Mohammad Hadi Al-Huweila4,720Elected
Ahmad Abdullah Al-Azmi4,651Elected
Source: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Aftermath

Following the elections, a new Speaker of the National Assembly was elected on 15 December. Incumbent Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim was re-elected with 33 votes, defeating Bader Nasser Al-Humaidi, who received 28. Four members did not vote.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Marzouq Al-GhanimIndependent3354.10
Bader Al HumaidiIndependent2845.90
Total61100.00
Valid votes6195.31
Invalid/blank votes34.69
Total votes64100.00
Registered voters/turnout6598.46

Parliament unanimously approved a motion of noncooperation, meaning the cabinet must be replaced.[12]

References

  1. ↑ @CGCKuwait (October 19, 2020). "وافق مجلس الوزراء على مشروع مرسوم بدعوة الناخبين لانتخابات مجلس الأمة للفصل التشريعي السادس عشر وذلك يوم السبت الموافق ٥ ديسمبر ٢٠٢٠" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Decree sets Dec 5 general elections". Arab Times. 19 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Kuwait sets parliamentary elections for December 5". Kuwait Times. 19 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kuwait election sees two-thirds of parliament lose seats". yahoo.com. AP. 5 December 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ @CGCKuwait (October 24, 2020). "يفتح باب الترشيح لانتخاب أعضاء مجلس الأمة اعتباراً من صباح يوم الاثنين الموافق 26/10/2020 ويستمر حتى نهاية الدوام الرسمي ليوم الاربعاء الموافق 4/11/2020 #CGCKuwait" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ "Registration for Assembly polls opens on Oct 26". Kuwait Times. 24 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "102 Schools for 2020 Polls". Arab Times. 21 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Kuwait PM: Health precautions must be respected at electoral locations". Kuwait News Agency KUNA. 25 October 2020.
  9. ↑ Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union
  10. 1 2 "Kuwait polls: Opposition makes gains, gov't resignation accepted". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  11. ↑ Emirate of Kuwait: Legislative elections of 5 December 2020 Psephos
  12. ↑ "Kuwait's minority government bows out after a month". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com.
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