General elections were held in Kuwait on 5 December 2020. Two-thirds of the incumbents lost their seats, including the 2016 parliament's sole woman MP Safa Al Hashem.
Background Registration of candidates contesting for the 50 seats of the National Assembly took place between 26 October and 4 November 2020. 102 schools were used for the 2020 National Assembly elections on December 5. Each school had a clinic set up to check on the health condition of all those entering.
Electoral system The 50 elected members of the National Assembly are elected from five 10-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote.Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union Political parties are not officially licensed, therefore candidates run as individuals, although many political groups operate freely as de facto political parties. All Kuwaiti citizens (both male and female) above the age of 21 have the right to vote. Expatriate workers, who constituted 70% of the population, were not enfranchised.
Results Overall, opposition candidates won 24 seats, up from 16 in the previous parliament. The election was seen as a victory for the anti-government opposition bloc. Thirty of the elected candidates were under the age of 45; whilst there were 29 female candidates, none were elected, leaving the parliament without a female MP for the first time since the year 2012. There was a total of 567,694 registered voters, of which 394,131 cast a valid vote.Emirate of Kuwait: Legislative elections of 5 December 2020 Psephos
ConstituencyCandidateVotesNotesFirst ConstituencyHassan Abdullah Johar5,849ElectedYusuf Fahad Al-Ghurayyeb5,064ElectedAhmad Khalifa Al-Shuhoomi4,129ElectedHamad Ahmad Rouhuddine3,783ElectedEssa Ahmad Al-Kandari3,398ElectedAli Abdulrasoul Al-Qattan3,320ElectedAdnan Abdulsamad Zahed3,052ElectedAbdullah Mohammad Al-Turaiji2,472ElectedAbdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf3,437ElectedOsama Essa Al-Shaheen2,167ElectedSecond ConstituencyMarzouq Ali Al-Ghanim5,179ElectedMohammad Barrak Al-Mutair3,456ElectedKhalil Ibrahim Al-Saleh3,117ElectedHammad Mohammad Al-Matar2,903ElectedSalman Khaled Al-Azmi2,866ElectedKhaled Ayed Al-Enezi2,565ElectedBader Nasser Al-Humaidi2,534ElectedBader Hamed Al-Mulla2,483ElectedHamad Saif Al-Harshani2,208ElectedAhmad Mohammad Al-Hamad2,195ElectedThird ConstituencyAbdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari5,585ElectedOsama Ahmad Al-Munawer3,858ElectedMuhannad Talal Al-Sayer3,565ElectedHesham Abdulsamad Al-Saleh3,345ElectedAbdulaziz Tareq Al-Saqabi3,340ElectedYusuf Saleh Al-Fadhalah2,992ElectedMubarak Zaid Al-Mutairi2,982ElectedSaadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi2,979ElectedFares Saad Al-Otaibi2,942ElectedMuhalhal Khaled Al-Mudhaf2,904ElectedFourth ConstituencyShuaib Shabbab Al-Muwaizri6,200ElectedFayez Ghannam Al-Mutairi5,774ElectedMusa'ad Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi5,750ElectedMohammad Obaid Al-Rajhi5,198ElectedSaud Saad Al-Mutairi5,100ElectedThamer Saad Al-Dhefeeri4,935ElectedMarzouq Khalifa Al-Khalifa4,760ElectedFarz Mohammad Al-Daihani4,701ElectedSaad Ali Al-Rashidi4,520ElectedMubarak Haif Al-Hajraf4,422ElectedFifth ConstituencyHamdan Salem Al-Azmi8,387ElectedBader Zayed Al-Azmi8,371ElectedMubarak Abdullah Al-Ajmi6,801ElectedAl-Saifi Mubarak Al-Ajmi6,294ElectedKhaled Mohammad Al-Otaibi5,387ElectedHumoud Mebrek Al-Azmi5,347ElectedSaleh Theyab Al-Mutairi5,113ElectedNasser Saad Al-Doseri 4,750ElectedMohammad Hadi Al-Huweila4,720ElectedAhmad Abdullah Al-Azmi4,651ElectedSource: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Aftermath Following the elections, a new Speaker of the National Assembly was elected on 15 December. Incumbent Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim was re-elected with 33 votes, defeating Bader Nasser Al-Humaidi, who received 28. Four members did not vote.
Parliament unanimously approved a motion of noncooperation, meaning the cabinet must be replaced.
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