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Kuwaitis went to the polls on Saturday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by Covid-19, with services laid on for residents contaminated with the illness to vote in particular polling stations.
The oil-rich emirate has enforced among the strictest laws within the Gulf to fight the unfold of the virus, imposing a months-long lockdown earlier this yr.
While a few of these curbs have been eased, over-the-top marketing campaign occasions that historically draw 1000’s for lavish banquets had been absent from this yr’s election, whereas masks stay necessary and temperature checks are routine when venturing outdoor.
Infected folks or these beneath necessary quarantine are normally confined to dwelling, with digital wristbands monitoring their actions.
But in an effort to respect their proper to vote, authorities designated 5 polling stations — one in every electoral district — for them to forged their ballots, among the many 102 throughout the nation.
Dulled-down marketing campaign
Unlike different oil-rich Gulf states, Kuwait has a energetic political life with a parliament elected for four-year phrases that enjoys broad legislative powers.
Political disputes are sometimes fought out within the open.
Parties are neither banned nor recognised, and plenty of teams — together with Islamists — function freely as de facto events.
But with greater than 143,000 coronavirus circumstances up to now, together with 886 deaths, the election marketing campaign has been toned down this yr.
The polls, which opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT), are the primary because the new emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, took workplace in September following the demise of his half-brother, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, on the age of 91.
But with the opposition weakened in recent times, no main political shifts are anticipated.
Just a few marketing campaign banners hoisted over the streets have been the one bodily reminder of the emirate’s political calendar.
Instead, this yr’s marketing campaign has primarily been fought on social networks and within the media.
‘More dynamic’
More than 567,000 Kuwaiti voters are eligible to decide on among the many 326 candidates, who embody 29 ladies.
Ahmad Deyain, secretary normal of the opposition Kuwaiti Progressive Movement, mentioned he anticipated a decrease voter turnout than earlier years after the dulled-down marketing campaign.
The common themes are a relentless although, from guarantees to combat corruption and plans to deal with youth employment, to freedom of expression, housing, training and the thorny difficulty of the “bidoon”, Kuwait’s stateless minority.
From 2009 to 2013, and particularly after the Arab Spring revolts of 2011, the nation went via a interval of political turmoil, with parliament and cupboards dissolved a number of occasions amid disputes between lawmakers and governments dominated by the ruling Al-Sabah household.
“Kuwait is still undergoing a political crisis since 2011, and that page has not yet turned,” Deyain advised AFP.
“There are still disputes over the electoral system and mismanagement of state funds.”
Deyain mentioned he anticipated some lawmakers within the new meeting to be “more dynamic” in attempting to resolve some points.
The election outcomes are anticipated to be introduced on Sunday morning.
Kuwait was the primary Gulf Arab state to undertake a parliamentary system in 1962. Women had been granted the precise to vote and to face for election in 2005.
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