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All female candidates lose in Kuwait election 

24 of the National Assembly’s 50 seats were won by candidates belonging to the 'unofficial' opposition

December 7, 2020 at 12:32 pm

The results of Kuwait’s parliamentary election posted on Sunday showed that all 28 female candidates lost in their bid to become MPs. Women make up 52 per cent of voters in the country.

Twenty-four of the National Assembly’s 50 seats were won by candidates belonging to the “unofficial” opposition. This was an increase from 16 in the last parliament.

The election was held in five districts, with each district electing ten deputies. The polls closed on Sunday, amid special measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in polling stations. As many as 326 candidates stood in the election.

More than 567, 000 people have the right to vote according to the one-vote system, which has been in force since 2012. In elections before then, each voter had four votes to use.

This is the first parliamentary election under the new ruler, Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who took office in September, succeeding his half-brother, the late emir Sabah Al-Sabah.

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