Kuwait sets date for elections
The oil-rich gulf state will hold its sixth round of elections since 2006 next month after court ruling.
Kuwait will hold elections next month after the constitutional court scrapped parliament and upheld a controversial electoral law.
The cabinet announced on Thursday that it has approved a decree setting parliamentary elections for July 25.
“At an extraordinary meeting held today, the cabinet approved a draft decree inviting voters to elect members of the National Assembly on July 25,” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah told the KUNA state news agency.
The court on Sunday scrapped the 50-seat parliament elected on December 1 amid a total boycott by the opposition in protest against an amendment to the electoral law that reduced the number of candidates each voter was allowed to select from four to one.
Opposition groups had claimed the electoral law amendment enabled the government to manipulate election results and subsequent legislation.
The election will be Kuwait’s sixth since 2006, where political upheaval has stalled infrastructure development and delayed economic reforms.
The decree will be officially issued later on Thursday by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is also expected to issue another decree next week dissolving the pro-government parliament in accordance with the court order.
The ruling will result in Kuwait’s second parliamentary election in eight months, and its third since February 2012.