General elections were held in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

on 29 September 2022 following the dissolution of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

by Crown Prince

Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ( ar, الشيخ مشعل الأحمد الجابر الصباح, translit=ash-Shaykh Misha`al al-ʾAḥmad al-Jābir aṣ-Ṣabāḥ; also spelled Meshal, Mishaal or Meshaal; born 27 September 1940) is the Cr ...

Background

On 22 June Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced the dissolution of Parliament. On 28 August, the Kuwaiti Cabinet approved the decree calling for elections on 29 September.

Electoral system

The 50 elected members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

are elected from five 10-seat constituencies by

single non-transferable vote Single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used to elect multiple winners. It is a generalization of first-past-the-post, applied to multi-member districts with each voter casting just one vote. Unlike FPTP, which is a single-win ...

. Political parties are not officially licensed, therefore candidates run as individuals, although many political groups operate freely as de facto political parties. All Kuwaiti citizens (both male and female) above the age of 21 have the right to vote.

Candidates

Registration of candidates contesting the 50 seats took place between 29 August and 7 September 2022. 118 schools were used for the 2022 National Assembly elections on 29 September. A total of 305 candidates, including 22 women, were registered. While the previous elections in 2020 were affected by anti-coronavirus measures, this time candidates were able to open electoral offices and hold live hustings. Security services stepped up their monitoring of vote buying.

Results

Opposition politicians were reported to have made significant gains. Islamists, including many affiliated with the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassa ...

, established themselves in parliament, while Shi’ites displaced palace-aligned Sunni candidates. Many reformist candidates, including two women, also won seats.

Elected members

References

{{Kuwaiti elections

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Elections in Kuwait Non-partisan elections