Opposition wins big in Kuwait parliamentary election

By Mohamed Abdel-Ghaffar and Ahmed al-Masri

KUWAIT CITY (AA) – Opposition groups have made a comeback in the Kuwaiti parliament, winning almost half of seats in Saturday’s parliamentary election.

According to official results Sunday, the opposition and their allies won 24 seats of the 50-member assembly.

Their win came after the opposition ended their boycott of the polls in protest at the government move to amend the electoral system.

The results showed that only 20 candidates of the former assembly made it into the new parliament.

The Shia minority -- who makes up around one-third of Kuwait’s population, won six seats, down from nine in the previous parliament.

The polls also saw the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamic Constitutional Movement winning four seats, while one woman was elected to the new parliament.

Saturday’s polls were called after the country’s emir dissolved parliament in October, citing “regional developments” and “security challenges”.

The last parliamentary election was held in Kuwait in 2013.