Kuwait Elections Make Significant Changes

Kuwait consists of five constituencies, each with ten representatives. The number of eligible voters is about 796,000
Kuwait consists of five constituencies, each with ten representatives. The number of eligible voters is about 796,000
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Kuwait Elections Make Significant Changes

Kuwait consists of five constituencies, each with ten representatives. The number of eligible voters is about 796,000
Kuwait consists of five constituencies, each with ten representatives. The number of eligible voters is about 796,000

The unofficial results of Kuwait’s parliamentary elections, which were announced in the early hours of Friday, showed that the Change movement had swept the National Assembly, by winning more than half of the 50 parliamentary seats.

The voter turnout reached around 50 percent across the country, while the fifth electoral constituency saw a higher turnout.

Two women won in Friday’s elections, namely, Alia al-Khaled (second district) and former Minister Jenan Boushehri (third district).

There was high optimism following a speech by the Kuwaiti crown prince, who called for change and pledged to prevent the government from interfering with the voting process or choosing a speaker for the National Assembly.

This comes after nearly two years of conflict between the previous parliament and successive governments.

The government has adopted a set of measures to prevent vote buying and limit the influence of tribes, by fighting by-elections, as well as registering voters based on the civil ID.

Deputies representing the Islamic Constitutional Movement - Hadas (Muslim Brotherhood) succeeded in reaching the assembly. Those included: Osama Issa Al-Shaheen (first constituency), Hamad Muhammad Al-Matar (second district), and Abdulaziz Al-Saqabi (third constituency).

The Salafist movement achieved a remarkable presence with the return of MP Muhammad Hayef to the Council after his loss in the previous session, along with the victory of Adel Al-Damkhi, Fahd Al-Masoud and Hamad Al-Obeid.

The entire Bloc of Five, consisting of Hassan Gohar, Abdullah Al-Mudhaf, Badr Al-Mulla, Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf, and Muhannad Al-Sayer, also won with a high number of votes in their constituencies.

About nine Shiite deputies, distributed in various electoral districts and political blocs, won in the elections, including two independents, Osama Al-Zayd and Jenan Boushehri.

Former National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun achieved a landslide victory, obtaining more than 12,200 votes in the third constituency - the highest percentage in the country.

Al-Saadoun, 87, is a veteran parliamentarian who has been a member of the National Assembly since 1975. He has won all the elections organized in Kuwait since that year.

Kuwait consists of five constituencies, each with ten representatives. The number of eligible voters is about 796,000.



Syria’s Interior Ministry Stresses Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to Combat Crime, Terrorism

The Saudi Interior Minister receiving his Syrian counterpart in Jeddah last month (SPA)
The Saudi Interior Minister receiving his Syrian counterpart in Jeddah last month (SPA)
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Syria’s Interior Ministry Stresses Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to Combat Crime, Terrorism

The Saudi Interior Minister receiving his Syrian counterpart in Jeddah last month (SPA)
The Saudi Interior Minister receiving his Syrian counterpart in Jeddah last month (SPA)

The Syrian Ministry of Interior has confirmed it is coordinating closely with Saudi Arabia on joint security operations aimed at tackling organized crime and terrorist threats. Many of these efforts, officials say, remain deliberately out of the public eye for security reasons.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba revealed that cooperation between Damascus and Riyadh spans intelligence sharing, organizational support, and capacity building. He highlighted Saudi Arabia’s advanced security structures and extensive experience, emphasizing that Syria has already benefited substantially from this collaboration.

Al-Baba indicated that the coming period could see Saudi Arabia providing specialized training to Syrian units and personnel. In recent months, several high-level meetings have taken place, including talks early last month in Riyadh between Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif and his Syrian counterpart, Anas Khattab.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, Prince Abdulaziz stressed that the meeting was held under directives from King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reflecting the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting Syria’s stability and sharing expertise.

Discussions also focused on setting mechanisms to implement the Crown Prince’s instructions to deliver comprehensive support to Syrian institutions.

Al-Baba explained that security cooperation is primarily focused on countering two key threats: narcotics trafficking, particularly captagon, and terrorism linked to ISIS remnants and sabotage cells that carried out attacks in March.

Just last week, the two interior ministries announced a significant joint operation in which Syrian authorities, acting on Saudi intelligence, seized large quantities of amphetamine tablets hidden inside industrial sites in Idlib and Aleppo provinces. The shipment was intended to be smuggled across the border.

According to al-Baba, the operation successfully disrupted the movement of tens of thousands of captagon pills, describing it as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle smuggling networks linked to remnants of the former regime.

He said many similar operations remain undisclosed due to operational sensitivities.

In April, Saudi Arabia hosted a Syrian security delegation for an in-depth review of the Kingdom’s policing practices and advanced security systems to help modernize Syria’s own institutions.

Talks between the two ministers also addressed broader cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism, fighting organized crime, border protection, and intelligence sharing. Officials underscored that this partnership aims to create sustainable mechanisms to improve stability and security across Syria.