On Saturday, Kuwaitis voted to elected a parliament to replace the parliament dissolved by the emir, Shiekh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, in March. The emir dismissed the parliament in response to what he viewed as obstruction of his proposed economic modernization reforms by members of parliament focused on local issues and pushing an Islamist agenda. But Islamists were reported to have won 24 of 50 seats on Saturday, two more seats than they held previously. Other reports focused on the failure of any of the 27 women candidates to win a seat, and noted that 28 of the 50 existing members of parliament were re-elected.
