Kuwait’s National Assembly Office held a meeting on Monday, chaired by Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, following a decision by the constitutional court to scrap last year’s election process and reinstate the previous Assembly.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker Ahmad Al-Shuhoumi, Secretary MP Faraz Al-Daihani, head of the legislative and legal committee MP Obaid Al-Wasmi, head of the financial and economic affairs committee MP Ahmad Al-Hamad, and Secretary General Khaled Buslaib.
“The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court issued a verdict on Sunday annulling the results of the 2022 National Assembly elections,” due to discrepancies in the decree dissolving the previous parliament, the official KUNA news agency said.
The ruling also stipulated the return of the speaker and all members of the former National Assembly to complete the remaining legal term of the parliament, which is 21 months, before calling for new legislative elections.
Twenty-seven deputies, who were elected in September, will have to leave the parliament, while 23 parliamentarians will continue their term as members of the previously dissolved council.
Meanwhile, 28 MPs from the reinstated Assembly submitted a motion in which they demanded swift approval of draft laws related to the election process, especially the establishment of a higher election commission.
The motion called on all deputies to respect the verdict of the constitutional court and speed up the process of approving a draft law to set up an independent higher election commission to oversee the entire election process and ensure no violations are committed.
MP Fayez Al-Jomhour announced the submission of a motion signed by 28 deputies to expedite some laws related to addressing the errors in the elections and protecting the people’s rights to choose their representatives.
In a statement, the deputy said: “The entire Kuwaiti people witnessed the grave and dangerous flaws and mistakes committed during the last elections… There may have been suspicions of fraud.”
He also stressed the importance of completing the issuance of the necessary legislation, especially the law of the High Electoral Commission, to supervise the electoral process and ensure its safety and integrity.
