KUWAIT CITY, July 23: The Kuwait Movement for Justice and Development (NEBRAS) has proposed division of Kuwait into two constituencies with 25 MPs in each constituency, while a voter should choose only one candidate.

In its press statement Monday, the movement explained it prefers the transformation of Kuwait into a single constituency but since it is not possible without a constitutional amendment, then it is better to divide the nation into two constituencies. The group believes this is the best way to ensure geographical proximity of the areas, as well as to stop fraudulent elections, manipulation of electoral programs and the illegal transfer of voters’ names.

The movement attached a map to its proposal to show how the country will be divided into two, starting from the top of Salmiya towards the South-West at an angle of 45 degrees. They argued this proposal is beneficial to the nation as both sides contain the same Kuwaiti structure with different components; namely Bedouins, urbanites, Sunnis and Shiites.

Movement
Meanwhile, the movement attributed the current political crisis to the cancellation of the 2012 Parliament that paved the way for the reinstatement of its predecessor. They also cited other factors leading to the crisis, such as the incessant calls for the dissolution of the legislature and fresh elections. They warned there will be a number of challenges in the next elections due to the unequal distribution of voters under the five-constituency system.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned scenarios, the movement urged everyone to unite in finding appropriate solutions to the worsening political problems in the country. “All sections of the society must be involved even if they have different points of view because we are the people of Kuwait and in the end no one will benefit from this step but us,” they added.

In a related development, a reliable source revealed the electoral constituency system will be amended before the next elections; pointing out the 2009 Parliament will not be dissolved unless this issue is addressed.

The source said the government may submit a request to the Constitutional Court to look into the constitutionality of the five-constituency system after taking its oath before the 2009 Parliament. If this happens, the court might announce its decision in September or October to eliminate doubts on the current electoral system, the source added. 

According to the source, in case the court rules on the constitutionality of the system, an emergency decree will be issued to reduce the number of candidates each voter can choose from four to one, because the government does not want the 2009 Parliament to enact a law in this regard.

Moreover, another source disclosed the two key opposition figures — MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun and Musallam Al-Barrak — have asked HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak to boycott the 2009 Parliament session and the new Cabinet should not take its oath in front of this legislature. The source said the two MPs made the appeal to push for the immediate dissolution of the 2009 Parliament and to prevent the amendment of the electoral constituency.