Opposition sticks to poll boycott

Registration of candidates for Kuwait’s upcoming polls closed on Friday amid a total boycott by the opposition in protest over amendment of the disputed electoral law. “Not a single opposition member has registered. This is a major success for the opponents,” said Talal Al Kashti, director of Etijahat Studies Center, a private think-tank on local politics, especially elections. As many as 387 hopefuls, including 15 women, filed nomination papers for the Dec.1 snap polls during the 10-day registration period, but 250 of them registered in the final two days amid opposition allegations of corruption. Only 10 members of the 50-seat parliament elected in February registered. The house was scrapped in a historical ruling by the constitutional court on June 20 which set the stage for the current political crisis. “The next parliament will be entirely pro-government, toothless and with no real powers,” Kashti told reporters. The opposition said it is boycotting the polls because the amended electoral law, claiming it allows the government to influence the outcome of the results and elect a rubber stamp parliament. Under the previous law, Kuwaiti voters were able to choose up to four candidates, but that has now been reduced to only one. The opposition vowed to continue its campaign against the election. “After lower the curtain on the candidates registration play, its time for for the (voting) boycott to bring the downfall of the illegitimate parliament,” said opposition figure and former Islamic MP Waleed Al Tabtabai on Twitter. The opposition plans to stage a large rally on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the constitution and to protest against the electoral law. Tabtabai tweeted that opposition groups planned a “large rally” on Nov.11 to mark the 50th anniversary of the constitution. He said it will take place in Erada Square, a designated protest area opposite parliament. While most of the frequent recent protests on the square have been peaceful, some have spread to surrounding streets and to other areas in Kuwait where protests are considered illegal, and resulted in clashes. More than 150 protesters and 24 police have been slightly injured at three demonstrations since Oct.21. In recent protests police have used tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse thousands of demonstrators. The upcoming election is the second this year and the fifth since mid-2006 as the oil-rich Gulf state has been rocked by ongoing political crises between parliament and the government led by the Al Sabah ruling family. Meanwhile, in a separate unrelated development Kuwait has arrested two members of the Al Sabah ruling family for tweets deemed critical of the government and supportive of the opposition, a human rights group and a lawyer said on Friday. Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al Sabah and Sheikh Nawaf Malek Al Sabah were arrested for expressing political views on Twitter, the independent Kuwait Human Rights News Centre said. Sheikh Abdullah’s lawyer Al Humaidi Al-Subaie said his client was arrested late on Wednesday and was expected to be questioned by the public prosecutor later on Friday. The two young royals have written tweets sympathetic to the Kuwaiti opposition, which has been organising protests against an amendment to the electoral law seen as designed to produce a pro-government parliament in Dec.1 general election.