By Ahmed Hagagy
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld a March ruling that a September 2022 parliamentary election, in which the opposition made gains, was void, by rejecting an appeal against that decision.
This means June 6 legislative elections will go ahead.
The head of the court, Fouad al-Zuwaid, said: “The court decided to reject the appeal” which had been filed by members of the 2022 parliament, who said the court had exceeded its powers by declaring that parliament void.
After the 2022 parliament was dissolved in March, parliament was reinstated with the composition of the 2020 elections – which itself had been previously dissolved in a bid to end political feuding.
However in May it was again dissolved by royal decree in order for fresh elections to take place in June.
The OPEC member Gulf state has seen prolonged bickering between the government and the elected parliament which has hampered fiscal reforms.
Kuwait bans political parties and candidates run as independents, but it has given its legislature more influence than similar bodies in other Gulf monarchies, and political stability has traditionally depended on cooperation between the government and parliament.
(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; writing by Ahmed Elimam and Lisa Barrington; editing by Toby Chopra and Jason Neely)
