Minor shift in legislative makeup as tribal MPs dominate

KUWAIT CITY, April 5: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable of congratulations to the winners of the National Assembly 2024. In his cable, His Highness the Amir expressed sincere sentiments to all members of parliament for the trust placed in them by citizens in this election, wishing them success in their duties and contributions to the country’s progress, development, and prosperity.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent cables of thanks to ministers and heads of state agencies who contributed to success and orderliness of the 2024 National Assembly elections. The Amiri cables were addressed to His Highness the Commander of the National Guard Sheikh Salem Al- Ali Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and Acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Youssef Saud Al-Sabah, Minister of Information and Culture Abdul-Rahman Al-Mutairi, Minister of Health Dr. Ahmad Abdul-Wahhab Al-Awadhi, and Minister of Social Affairs and Family and Childhood Affairs Sheikh Feras Saud Al-Malek Al- Sabah.

His Highness the Amir also sent cables of thanks to Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Adel Mohammad Al-Adwani, Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Faisal Saeed Al-Gharib, and Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr. Noura Muhammad Khaled Al-Mashaan, Board Chairman of Kuwait Red Crescent Society Dr. Hilal Musaed Al- Sayer and Chief of Kuwait Fire Force Lt.-Gen. Khaled Rakan Al-Mikrad. In his messages, His Highness the Amir expressed appreciation of the great efforts made by the ministries and state departments in the preparation and organization of the just-ended elections in an orderly way. He also expressed gratitude to the members of the judiciary commission which supervised the electoral process, appreciating their efforts to ensure the credibility and transparency of the elections.

His Highness the Amir also thanked the voters for taking part effectively in the elections and exercising their constitutional right to vote, which reflected the civilized democratic aspect of the dear homeland. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al- Salem Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable of congratulation to the winners of the National Assembly 2024. In his cable, His Highness the premier expressed his sincere sentiments to all members of parliament, for the trust placed in them by citizens in this election, and wishing them success in their duties and many contributions to the country’s progress, development, and prosperity.

Kuwaiti citizens thronged to polling stations from 12:00 noon to 12:00 am on Thursday to elect their representatives at the National Assembly. The Information Ministry revealed that 58.36 percent of the total number of eligible voters participated in the election. The counting of votes started immediately after the voting period and the final results showed very minimal change in the legislative membership compared to the 2023 Assembly.

The First Constituency recorded the largest change as four new MPs emerged victorious, while the Second and Third constituencies got one new MP each, two for the Fourth Constituency and three for the Fifth Constituency. In terms of changes bloc-wise, the number of Shiite MPs increased from seven to eight, the Salamis increased from six to eight, while the Muslim Brotherhood’s representation declined from five to two. Tribal MPs occupied the rest of the parliamentary seats and one only woman --Jenan Muhsen Ramadan Boushehri -- managed to reach the 2024 Assembly. She was also the lone female member of the 2023 Assembly.

Following are the election results:

First Constituency 1- Osama Zaid Al-Zaid: 4,936 votes 2-Abdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf: 4,729 votes 3-Mohammad Jawhar Hayat: 4,134 votes 4-Ahmad Hajji Lari: 4,108 votes 5-Issa Ahmad Al-Kanderi: 3,678 votes 6- Basel Hussain Al-Bahrani: 3,631 votes 7-Adel Jassem Al-Damkhi: 3,530 votes 8-Khalid Marzouq Al-Omaira: 3,502 votes 9-Saleh Ahmed Ashour: 3,399 votes 10-Mohammad Mubarak Al-Azmi: 3,249 votes

Second Constituency 1-Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim: 8,295 votes 2-Shuaib Ali Shaaban: 6,325 votes 3-Abdulwahab Aref Al-Essa: 3,917 votes 4-Falah Dhahi Al-Hajri: 3,342 votes 5-Mohammad Barrak Al-Mutair: 3,246 votes 6-Bader Nashmi Al-Enzi: 3,238 votes 7-Nawaf Bhaish Al-Azmi: 3,064 votes 8-Abdullah Turki Al-Anbai: 2,914 votes 9-Bader Hamed Al-Mulla: 2,758 votes 10-Fahad Abdulaziz Al-Masoud: 2,708 votes

Third Constituency 1-Abdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari: 9,428 votes 2-Abdulaziz Tariq Al-Saqaabi: 6,294 votes 3-Mehalhal Khalid Al-Mudhaf: 5,804 votes 4-Fares Saad Al-Otaibi: 5,737 votes 5-Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Saadoun: 5,250 votes 6-Jarrah Khalid Al-Fawzan: 5,238 votes 7-Muhannad Talal Al-Sayer: 5,11 votes 8- Ahmed Nabil Al-Fadhl: 5,092 votes 9- Jenan Muhsen Ramadan Bushehri: 4,976 10- Hamad Adel Al-Obaid: 4,908 votes

Fourth Constituency 1-Shuaib Shabbat Al-Muwaizri: 15,663 votes 2-Anwar Arrak Al-Fikr Al-Dhaferi: 8,646 votes 3-Obaid Mohammad Al-Mutairi: 8,141 votes 4-Mohammad Awadh Al-Ruqaib: 7,970 votes 5-Mubarak Homoud Al-Tasha: 7,707 votes 6-Bader Sayyar Al-Shemmari: 7,557 votes 7-Saad Al-Khanfour Al-Rashedi: 7,188 votes 8-Fayez Ghannam Al-Jomhour: 7,120 votes 9-Mubarak Haif Al-Hajraf: 6,925 votes 10-Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi: 6,473 votes

Fifth Constituency 1-Fahd Falah Bin Jamee Al-Azmi: 16,469 votes 2-Hamdan Salem Al-Azmi: 14,211 votes 3-Mutib Nasser Al-Sahali: 11,055 votes 4-Saud Abdulaziz Al-Hajeri: 10,643 votes 5-Bader Zayid Al-Azmi: 9,104 votes 6-Majed Musaed Al-Mutairi, 8,807 votes 7-Abdulhadi Nasser Al-Ajmi: 8,521 votes 8-Hani Hussain Shams: 8,437 votes 9-Mohammad Musaed Al-Dawsari: 7,644 votes 10-Khalid Mohammad Al-Otaibi: 7,343 votes

Minister of Information and Culture, Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi, praised on Friday efforts exerted by employees in the Ministry of Information and Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), for their coverage of the National Assembly elections (Nation 2024), and the level of professionalism and dedication since the announcement of the election date.

The Minister expressed, through his account on the social Media platform (X), his thanks and great gratitude to all local, international, and private media outlets for their coverage of the election. Polling stations for the National Assembly elections (Nation 2024) for the 18th legislative term were closed at 12 o’clock A.M. (local time) on Thursday night. The voting process lasted 12 hours, starting at 12 noon in five electoral districts and was conducted according to the single electoral vote system to choose 50 members of the National Assembly from among 200 male and female candidates. President of the advisory commission on organization and supervision of the 2024 National Assembly elections Justice Saleh Al-Hamadi said Thursday the electoral process went on in a sound, smooth and orderly way. Nothing happended to affect the integrity and soundness of the elections as the elections were conducted under full judiciary supervision and field follow-up by the members of the commission, as well as effective monitoring by civil society institutions, he told reporters tonight. “The high voter turnout reflected a wonderful aspect of the national sense of responsibility by the sons of Kuwait since the start of polling,” Justice Al- Hamadi pointed out. He appreciated the efforts of all state agencies who contributed to the success of the electoral process.

The vote counting started soon after polling stations of the National Assembly’s 18th legislative term closed at 12:00 Thursday/Friday night. Voters had started casting their ballots at 12:00 on Thursday midday to elect 50 members out of 200 parliamentary hopefuls, males and females, to serve a four-year legislative term. Polling stations throughout the country saw noticeable turnout from voters after iftar Thursday evening. Citizens were keen on practicing their constitutional rights to select their representatives for the 2024 National Assembly.

They flocked to the polling stations and stood in organized queues in front of the stations to pick their best candidates for the country’s future. Foreign media delegation visiting the country to observe the proceedings of the 2024 National Assembly elections, hailed the transparency and high-level organization of the process. A number of visiting journalists spoke to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on sidelines of their tour at the polling centers, saying they are glad for the chance to speak to committee chiefs and have their queries answered.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff and Agencies