KUWAIT CITY, Aug 10: Following the government announcement to refer the Election Law to the Constitutional Court, the opposition majority bloc has reportedly begun holding meetings and is expected to issue a statement to explain what kind action it plans to take after the Constituencies Law is referred to the Constitutional Court.

Reliable sources disclosed the opposition members were to hold a meeting late Friday night at the Diwaniya of veteran MP and former Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Al-Saadoun in Khaldiya to decide the next step. No information, however, was available on this meeting at the time of going to press.
The government — through the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak — Thursday announced that the Cabinet will refer the electoral districts law to the Fatwa and Legislation Department in preparation to submit a challenge to the Constitutional Court next week.

Recently, the opposition had agreed with the youth activists and signed a petition dubbed ‘People are the Source of Power’ and the sympathizers are still putting their signatures to that petition. According to the opposition, about 25,000 supporters have so far signed the petition through the website.

According to the petition the opposition rejects any amendments to the electoral system and continuation of the 2009 National Assembly. They also reject the involvement of the judiciary in political disputes.
The petition calls on citizens to boycott the next parliamentary elections if changes are made to the electoral system. They insist any amendment must be passed in the next Parliament.

Meanwhile, several members of the opposition bloc from the annulled 2012 Parliament and the re-instated 2009 Assembly have commented on the latest decision of the government to refer the electoral districts law to the Constitutional Court to decide its constitutionality.

Former MP Khaled Al-Damkhi stated the government had finally revealed its intention. He added, “The issue here is not about procedural errors but rather the government wants to change the electoral system because it did not please the government.”

MP Ahmed Mutei Al-Azmi stressed the government wants to push the country into a dark tunnel by involving the judiciary in the political game and in an attempt to split the majority.
He added, “if we look carefully we will find that the five constituency system is not constitutional and also the 10 and 25. So will the government wipe out all the previous Parliaments?”
He stressed the situation in the country should move away from personal inclination and that every authority in Kuwait should respect the other authority and leave the constituency issue to be decided by the next Parliament.

MP Mubarak Al-Walan said, “The game of the government which does not respect its people and the Constitution has now become clear.” He warned if the government refers the Constituency Law to the court the opposition will protest at the Erada Square to resolve the problem.

Former MP Dr Hamad Al-Matar stressed by referring the law to the court the government will promote chaos in the country. He revealed its intention to ‘crack down’ on the Constitution. He added “The government must realize that the people will not remain silent in the face of this manipulation.”
On his Twitter account, MP Khaled Al-Sultan said, “The government is moving according to a plan drawn by the leaders of corruption and gangs who are stealing public money and those who disrespect the rights of the people and their freedoms.”

 In a related issue, sources disclosed that Fatwa and Legislative Department will meet next Sunday to draft the government request (challenge) to the Constitutional Court to decide whether the five constituencies is constitutional or not.
The sources added the draft will complete next Tuesday and be referred to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday or Thursday as required by the Cabinet.
They explained the court is required to look into the constitutionality of the Constituency Law in terms of the number dividing the candidates and the number of votes for each voter.