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December 2012 Kuwaiti general election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 1 December 2012 after early elections in February 2012 were declared invalid.[1]
In the elections, Shi'as won 17 out of 50 seats in the National Assembly,[2] an increase from the seven won in the February elections.[citation needed] Sunni Islamists were reduced to a minority.[2] Three women also entered the Parliament compared to men-only from the February election, but their number decreased compared to the 2009 election.[citation needed]
Turnout was officially reported to be 43%, the lowest in the Kuwaiti electoral history.
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Background
Six weeks before the elections, the electoral system was changed to single non-transferable vote, with voters restricted to voting for only one candidate, having previously been allowed to vote for four under multiple non-transferable vote.[3] The changes resulted in mass protests and an opposition boycott of the elections.[3] Shafeeq Ghabra, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at Kuwait University said that, "it's clear that the boycott was very successful."[4] The opposition rejected a unilateral amendment of the electoral law that reduced the number of votes per person from four to one.[5]
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Results
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Aftermath
On 5 December, despite calls for political reforms, Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah was reappointed Prime Minister.[6] In the opening session of the Assembly, Ali al-Rashid was elected Speaker.
In June 2013, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of fresh elections.[3]
References
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