Kuwait’s National Assembly elections led to 22 percent change in the parliament with the opposition retaining its seats, tribes, Shiites and youths winning new seats, and the Muslim Brotherhood losing one. The Salafist movement, meanwhile, one six seats.
Results on Friday showed a single female candidate was elected, the same as in the previous parliament.
The new parliament appears predominantly youthful, with MPs winning another term and eleven new faces being elected. These MPs either ran with the opposition or as independents.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem is expected to submit its resignation to Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to form a new cabinet.
Turnout reached 62.10 percent of 835,000 eligible voters, over half of them women.
Official results showed that the opposition retained 29 out of 50 seats in the National Assembly. Thirty-nine MPs were re-elected and seven lost their seats.
Shiite MPs won eight seats, one more from the last elections, which were held in 2023. Five Shiites were elected from the first district, and one each from the second, third and fifth.
Jenan Mohsen Ramadan Boushehri was the sole female elected to parliament.
Political analyst Nasser al-Abdali said the results of the elections showed that the public "didn’t want change, which is opposite of what the government wanted."
He added that the opposition made more gains because of its criticism of the government that has not made enough progress in improving living conditions and implementing promised reforms.
"The government is now in crisis. How will it deal with MPs, whose parliament it had dissolved less than two months ago?" he wondered.
He called on the new government to assess the results of the elections and issue a number of decisions related to improving living conditions.
Sheikh Meshal is keen to push through economic reforms after protracted deadlock between appointed governments and elected parliaments hindered progress.
His reform-minded approach appears aimed at helping the OPEC producer to catch up with Gulf neighbors which have been implementing ambitious plans to wean their economies off oil.
He strongly criticized the last National Assembly and the government in his first speech before parliament after taking office in December, saying they were "harming the interests of the country and its people".
Sheikh Meshal, 83, succeeded his late brother Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad in December and dissolved parliament on Feb. 15, less than two months into his tenure.
His decree cited the assembly's "violation of the constitutional principles" as a reason for dissolution.
Political deadlock in Kuwait has led to endless cabinet reshuffles and dissolutions of parliament, paralyzing policy-making.
Thursday's election was the fourth since Dec. 2020.
