KUWAIT CITY, Dec 23: The total number of Parliament hopefuls rose to 166 after 10 candidates filed their nomination papers on the third day of election registration process. Two candidates registered in the First Constituency, five in the Third, two in the Fourth and one in the Fifth Constituen-cy, while nobody registered in the Second Constituency on Friday. The total figure includes eight female candidates.
Director of Legal Affairs at the Interior Ministry, Brigadier Assad Al-Ruwaih, told reporters that work at the registration department is going very smoothly.

Incidentally, controversial political activist and former parliamentary candidate Mohammed Al-Juwaihal had registered himself on Friday. He claimed that the Minister of Interior was being pressured to prevent him from registering his candidacy and added “my registration today is a response to those who spread rumors against me, and I thank the Interior Minister for not succumbing to pressures.”
Juwaihal is known for his attacks on tribes in the country. He had earlier accused some people of having dual citizenship and having allegiance to other countries. His statements angered many tribes and some even initiated legal proceedings against him. He was even assaulted in one of the rallies due to this issue.

Recently, the Appeals Court had fined Juwaihal a sum of KD 3,000 for insulting former MP Musallam Al-Barrak during a program aired by Al-Sour channel. The Criminal Court had earlier acquitted him of the charges.

Juwaihal, who is running from the Third Constituency, called on the Minister of Interior to form a committee to check citizenship of those registering for elections “because I have documents proving that some of them have dual citizenship.”

He claimed that he is being honest with people of his constituency and country on issues that concern every house and every citizen because solutions for problems of unemployment and housing care haven’t been found yet. “There is a flaw in our social structure because those with dual citizenship have taken over the rights of citizens of this country,” he said.

Al-Juwaihal added that the Third Constituency is home to people of all sects and groups of Kuwaiti society and also to members of ‘organized gangs,’ who are trying to take control of oil in Kuwait.
Meanwhile, candidate from the Fourth Constituency and former opposition MP Shuwaib Al-Muwaizri urged Kuwaiti citizens to vote so that a better Kuwait can be created for future generations.
He called on the government to ensure free and fair elections and prevent vote-buying and forgeries, adding “the government must stop the movement of corrupt figures and restrict their media outfits because the aim of these people is to tarnish the image of candidates and give a negative picture of the election process.”

Al-Muwaizri said he asked the government to return the public funds that were stolen by the bribe-taking former MPs and added that he will not give up this demand and will continue to ask for review of the development plan budget “which was spent uselessly on things and projects that we don’t know.” This budget must be returned to the state coffers, he said.

Candidate from the First Constituency, Fahad Abdul-Aziz Al-Mashoud, stressed the youth movement was the main cause that led to the dissolution of the parliament and the government, and said the youth would play a major role in the coming elections.

According to Al-Mashoud, development can be achieved by eliminating corruption in the country. He also said he hoped to see 50 percent change in the next parliament.

Also, candidate from the Fifth Constituency, Abdul-Latif Al-Khidir, said his aim for running in the parliamentary election is to try to find solutions to problems facing citizens such as traffic jams, increasing prices of commodities, problems of banks and rising unemployment, housing issues, and the problem of bachelors living in residential areas.
He criticized former MPs for deliberately causing problems and their misuse of constitutional tools which hindered development in the country. “However, the former MPs should not be accused of taking bribes until the court issues its verdict,” he noted.
Furthermore, according to statistics issued by the Election Affairs Department, 400,296 Kuwaitis are eligible to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections in all the five constituencies. These include 184,996 men and 215,300 women.
At the constituency level, the Fifth Constituency has the lion’s share of voters with 113,407 voters (58,610 women and 54,797 men), followed by the Fourth Constituency with 103,280 voters (57,513 women and 45,767 men). The First Constituency came third with 71,146 voters (38,350 women and 32,796 men), followed by the Third constituency with 67,063 voters (36,823 women and 30,240 men) and in the last position is the Second Constituency with 45,400 voters (24,004 women and 21,396 women).
Candidate from the Fourth Constituency Abdulsamad Dashti announced his intention to defend Kuwaiti Christians who have been ignored by previous parliaments. He called for a Christian representative in the parliament or cabinet due to inspiring services Christians render to the nation, reports Al-Rai daily.
Dashti explained that the Christian citizens have served Kuwait in various fields. However, several lawmakers and individuals oppose their intention to build a church, even though they are also Kuwaitis and are entitled to similar rights the Muslim citizens enjoy. He stressed that Kuwait is a democracy and he will run in the coming parliamentary election in line with his constitutional rights.
December 23 Registrants – 10 men, 0 women
First Constituency – 2 registrants
Hussein Naji Al-Bahrani
Fahad Abdul-Aziz Al-Mashoud
Second Constituency – 0
Third Constituency – 5 registrants
Bader Nasser Obaid Al-Jaian
Khalid Abdullah Al-Yakout
Khalil Abdullah Ali Abdullah
Fadel Abdul-Karim Al-Atram
Mohammed Salem Al-Juwaihal
Fourth Constituency – 2 registrants
Bader Sahab Al-Muwaizri
Shuaib Shabab Al-Muwaizri
Fifth Constituency – 1
Abdulatif Khidir Al-Khider