Kuwait Elections

Kuwaitis went to the polls on Saturday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by Covid-19, with facilities laid on for citizens infected with the disease to vote in special polling stations.

Opposition candidates are estimated to have won around 20 seats out of 50 in Kuwaiti elections that saw most parliament members replaced, in a vote analysts said reflects anger at austerity measures to curb a budget deficit.

Kuwait has amended its electoral law to bar anyone convicted of insulting the emir from standing in national elections, closely-watched contests in a Gulf state with an outspoken assembly routinely critical of the government.

Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah of Kuwait said no one could tolerate corruption but that it was suspicious that the arrests came two days before an election in which FIFA president Sepp Blatter is standing for a new term.

A veteran former central bank governor was appointed Kuwait's finance minister on Sunday, state news agency KUNA said, after a parliamentary election in the major crude producer last month.

A boycott by some opposition Islamists and populist politicians may help liberals and independents in Kuwait's election on Saturday, but there are signs voters are flagging as they go to the polls for the sixth time in seven years.

Egypt accused Iran today of "unacceptable interference" in its domestic affairs for having criticised the Egyptian army's removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi last week.

Kuwait's top court on Sunday ordered the dissolution of parliament and called for fresh elections, officials in the US-allied Gulf Arab said.

Deeply divided Kuwait opened polling stations on Saturday to pick a new parliament that's certain to side with the ruling establishment after a widespread election boycott by opposition groups.

Kuwait's ruler has dissolved Parliament to set the stage for elections in the politically tense Gulf nation. The official Kuwait News Agency says the nation's emir made the decision Tuesday, less than a week after naming a new prime minister.

Kuwaitis went to the polls on Saturday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by Covid-19, with facilities laid on for citizens infected with the disease to vote in special polling stations.

Opposition candidates are estimated to have won around 20 seats out of 50 in Kuwaiti elections that saw most parliament members replaced, in a vote analysts said reflects anger at austerity measures to curb a budget deficit.

Kuwait has amended its electoral law to bar anyone convicted of insulting the emir from standing in national elections, closely-watched contests in a Gulf state with an outspoken assembly routinely critical of the government.

Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah of Kuwait said no one could tolerate corruption but that it was suspicious that the arrests came two days before an election in which FIFA president Sepp Blatter is standing for a new term.

A veteran former central bank governor was appointed Kuwait's finance minister on Sunday, state news agency KUNA said, after a parliamentary election in the major crude producer last month.

A boycott by some opposition Islamists and populist politicians may help liberals and independents in Kuwait's election on Saturday, but there are signs voters are flagging as they go to the polls for the sixth time in seven years.

Egypt accused Iran today of "unacceptable interference" in its domestic affairs for having criticised the Egyptian army's removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi last week.

Kuwait's top court on Sunday ordered the dissolution of parliament and called for fresh elections, officials in the US-allied Gulf Arab said.

Deeply divided Kuwait opened polling stations on Saturday to pick a new parliament that's certain to side with the ruling establishment after a widespread election boycott by opposition groups.

Kuwait's ruler has dissolved Parliament to set the stage for elections in the politically tense Gulf nation. The official Kuwait News Agency says the nation's emir made the decision Tuesday, less than a week after naming a new prime minister.