Opposition groups win almost 60% of Kuwait’s National Assembly

Kuwaiti opposition groups secured almost 60 per cent of the seats in the 50-seat National Assembly, according to the final results of early parliamentary elections announced on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the results, only 23 members of the previous parliament managed to keep their seats in the new parliament, while 27 are new members.

The state-run KUNA news agency said 305 candidates, including 22 female candidates, ran for seats in the assembly.

The number of representatives of the Shia bloc rose from six to nine.

Two people who are currently in prison also won seats.

Only two women were elected, the Parliament has been all-male since the only woman MP lost her seat in December 2020.

The Muslim Brotherhood group in Kuwait, known as the Islamic Constitutional Movement (Hadas), secured five seats, the same number as in the previous parliament.

On Thursday, Kuwaiti voters cast ballots in the Gulf country’s parliamentary elections, the second such vote in two years.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Jaber Abdulkhaleg