Voters in Kuwait began casting their votes today, Thursday, to elect a new parliament, amid optimism for a new phase after nearly two years of conflict between the previous parliament and the successive governments that dealt with it.

The voting process began at eight in the morning and is scheduled to continue until eight in the evening local time.

Pictures, broadcast on social media, showed large numbers of voters in some polling stations.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Samar Chidiac said that an atmosphere of optimism prevails over these elections, which Kuwaitis agree that they will not be like the previous ones, given their importance as they come after an emirical speech delivered by Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah last June, in which he outlined a new political reality in Kuwait. A new reform phase began with him.

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A very large turnout at the Umm Al-Baraa Electoral Center in Jahra# National Assembly_2022 Elections # Kuwait # Your Voice_Amanah pic.twitter.com/MyZkLrG761

— Al Moatmad News El.moatmd news (@almoatamad_news) September 29, 2022

The polling takes place under judicial supervision according to a new voting system based on national identity, with the participation of personalities and political currents who boycotted the elections during the past ten years.

In these elections, which are the 18th in the history of political life in the country and the sixth in 10 years, about 800,000 male and female voters are entitled to vote to choose the 50 members of the National Assembly from among 305 candidates, including 22 women, distributed over 5 electoral districts.

As soon as the polling ends, the counting process will begin, and the official results are expected to be announced on Friday.

Kuwait includes 5 constituencies, each constituency has 10 representatives, where the candidates who obtain the first 10 positions in each constituency win the membership of Parliament.


new government

According to the constitution, the government headed by Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (the son of the Emir) will submit its resignation the day after the election results are announced.

Last June, the Crown Prince announced the dissolution of Parliament and called for new general elections in accordance with the constitution, and this move was widely welcomed by the opposition as a victory for its demands.

Sheikh Mishaal Al-Sabah said that the authorities will not interfere in the people's choices of their representatives, nor will they interfere with the choices of the next National Assembly in choosing its speaker or its committees, so that the parliament will be the master of its decisions, stressing that it will not favor one group at the expense of another.

Parliament has broad powers, including passing laws and preventing their passage, questioning the prime minister and ministers, and voting no-confidence against senior government officials.

The opposition won 24 seats out of 50 in the previous elections, knowing that it had won a historic victory in 2012 when it won more than half of the parliament’s seats before the National Assembly was dissolved shortly after.