KUWAIT

Kuwait went to the parliamentary polls on July 26 and, according to the government sources, the voter turnout was 52.5 percent. According to official results, released by judicial authorities on July 29, 2013 Shia candidates won eight seats in the 50-member parliament. In the December 2012 polls they had a record of winning in 17 seats, who constitute about 30 percent of the native population. According to the results, the Liberals, who had no seat in the previous parliament, won at least three this time while Sunni Islamists increased their presence from five to seven seats. Only two women were elected compared to three in the previous parliament. The new parliament includes as many as 26 new faces. 1

• 1. “Shias lose over half of seats in Kuwait polls”, AlJazeera, July 28, 2013, at http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/201372835712365520.html