Kuwait announces parliamentary election results, gov’t resigns

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Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Kuwait's ex-parliament speaker.

Kuwait City, (Asian independent) Kuwait’s electoral committee announced 50 winners of the 2020 parliamentary elections held in the country’s five electoral districts.

The elections kicked off on Saturday with 326 candidates running for 50 seats. The voting process started from 8 a.m. local time and proceeded until 8 p.m.

According to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), 567,694 voters were entitled to vote in the elections to choose 50 members to represent them in parliament and the winners will be serving a four-year term as parliament members, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The legislative elections in Kuwait resulted in the victory of 31 new MPs, and 19 MPs succeeded to return to National Assembly (parliament), KUNA said Sunday.

A total of 29 female candidates submitted their candidacy files, but none were elected.

After announcing his victory in the elections at the second electoral district, Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Kuwait’s ex-parliament speaker, expressed gratitude to voters.

“I am proud of you, and this is a great responsibility and honesty because what you have done, Kuwaiti people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has submitted on Sunday the resignation of his government to Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah after the elections in accordance with the Kuwaiti constitution.

During a meeting with the emir, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said that he and the ministers did their utmost to shoulder the responsibilities for serving Kuwait and attaining prosperity.

“I have keenly supervised the general elections of the new National Assembly to hold the polls freely, transparently and with utmost objectivity,” he said.

“We have been keen on performing the accorded tasks with utmost sincerity and faithfulness,” he affirmed.

The emir accepted the resignation and ordered the cabinet to serve as caretaker until a new government is formed.

Meanwhile, an Amiri Decree was also issued on Sunday, calling on the newly elected National Assembly to hold the first regular session of the 16th legislative term on December 15.