Kuwaitis Protest New Parliament, Plan Sit-In

Photo Credit: Reuters

A week after parliamentary elections, tens of thousands of Kuwaitis marched , as crowds wearing orange, the color of the protest movement, marched along the perimeter of Kuwait City. Protesters chanted that the new parliament and the recently amended election law were both illegitimate. Reuters quoted a Kuwaiti student, saying “We reject the last election because of the one vote system, because most of the people did not participate. We want the four-vote system back and new elections.” Rule changes passed by an emergency decree in October reduced the number of votes per citizen from one to four. Activists have now called for opposition supporters to camp outside of the parliament building ahead of its first session next week.

Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said that a new cabinet will be announced this week and stressed that he will not accept any interference or veto against any of its members. Meanwhile, freshman MP Safa Al-Hashem said lawmakers do not want to see the health, justice and electricity ministers return to the cabinet.