Kuwait holds elections to replace emir's dissolved Parliament
Kuwait is holding legislative elections this Thursday to elect the 50 members of the Gulf country's National Assembly or Parliament, who will replace the representatives of the chamber that was dissolved by the emir in June due to ongoing disagreements between the deputies and the government.
According to the official Kuwaiti news agency, KUNA, a total of 795,911 Kuwaitis have been called to vote to elect the new MPs from among 305 candidates, including a score of women.
The voting, which began at 8:00 local time (5:00 GMT) and will last 12 hours, follows an election campaign marked by promises of political and economic reform in the small but oil-rich country, the only one among the Gulf monarchies with a parliament that exercises control over the government.
The previous House was dissolved on 15 June by decree of the emir, Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, amid political paralysis caused by differences and mutual accusations between MPs and members of the government over which the previous executive resigned en bloc in May.
Differences between these two Kuwaiti powers are consistent in Kuwait, although they have been exacerbated over the past two years by the impact of COVID-19 on the country's economy.
These two years have been characterised by continuing political tension following accusations of corruption and inefficiency by legislators against ministers, who have accused MPs of "abusing the tools that allow them to question" members of the government.
On 1 August, Kuwait announced the formation of a new government, the fifth under Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who took office at the end of September 2020.
Under the Kuwaiti constitution, the emir has the power to dissolve parliament or the government if either branch formally notifies him of its inability to cooperate with the other.
Kuwait has no political parties, but is the only Gulf Arab country with a democratically elected parliament, which has traditionally exercised a controlling role over the executive.
