454 SIGN TO VIE FOR 50 SEATS IN NOVEMBER POLL – Dashti to run campaign from abroad

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 28: Forty-two parliamentary hopefuls, including one woman filed their candidacy for the 2016 National Assembly elections on the tenth day. With the doors for registration closed at 2:00 pm Friday after 10 consecutive days of hectic activity, the total number of contestants vying for the 50 National Assembly seats is 454. However, those willing to opt out of the race have until Nov 19, 2016.

The elections will be held on Saturday, Nov 26, 2016. Following are the candidates who registered on the tenth day per constituency:

First Constituency: (Eight candidates) — Jasem Mohammed Al-Ali, Saad Mohammed Al-Mufreh Abdul-Hadi Hussein, Abdul- Wahid Khalfan, Ali Darwish Al-Mansouri, Hani Ahmed Mohammed, Hani Mohammed Bushahri and Waleed Ahmed Yusif.

Second Constituency: (Five candidates) — Mohammed Barrak Al-Mutair, Bandar Mujaibil Al-Anazi, Hassan Naji Al-Bahrani, Saud Saad Al- Mutair and Abdul-hameed Al- Shayeji .

Third Constituency: (Seven Candidates) — Ahmed Mohammed Al-Banaei, Bassam Mohammed Al-Osfour, Abdul-Aziz Al-Munaifi, Jamal Abdullah Mohammed, Zaid Saleh Saeed, Abdullah Salem Al-Doub and Fauzi Saqer Al-Saqer.

Fourth Constituency: (Eleven Candidates) — Ahmed Nasar Al- Shraian, Jamal Saad Al-Anazi, Amar Hussein Al-Sayegh, Ghazi Faris Al-Otaibi, Reem Ghafel Al-Adwai, Saeed Mammed Dashti, Meshari Mohammed Al- Mutaitah, Fawaz Saud Al-Azmi, Bader Sahab Al-Muwaizri, Mahadi Hussein Ferouz and Yousif Saeed Al-Redawi.

Fifth Constituency: (Eleven Candidates) — Jasem Abdullah Al-Ali, Hussein Sarhan Ali, Khalid Salman Al-Azmi, Soudan Ali Al-Shimiri, Ali Abdullah Al-Rashidi, Abdullah Salem Al-Failakawi, Al-Yan Aloush Al-Mutairi, Falah Saleh, Salman Manei Mohammed Al-Ajmi, Hayef Naif Al-Mutairi and Wael Mohammed Al-Bosairi.

Meanwhile, former MP Abdulhamid Dashti who has been out of Kuwait since March 2016 ostensibly to receive medical treatment abroad, has made it clear he will run his election campaign from outside Kuwait, thus setting a new trend to contest the polls.

The elections department last Sunday had turned down the application presented by his son Talal, arguing that proxy filing was not allowed and that a candidate had to be physically present to have his papers accepted.

The Administrative Court in Kuwait Tuesday allowed him to file his application to contest next month’s parliamentary elections through proxy.

However, it is noteworthy to mention the lawmaker has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for insulting Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the judiciary in Kuwait. In late September, a court in Kuwait had also acquitted Dashti in a case filed against him for insulting Saudi Arabia.

Dashti said in a phone call with German News Agency said he will still be out of the country until the elections results are declared and a decree is issued to convene the inaugural session of the next Parliament. He added, he will attend the opening session of the next Parliament as an MP.

On the possibility of not winning a seat to Parliament this time, he said according to information reaching him from inside Kuwait he is expected to be among the top five from the First Constituency. He explained the ruling to allow him has cemented the activation of the state of institutions and the Constitution.

In another development, a candidate from the ruling family, Sheikh Malek Hamoud Al-Sabah said his candidacy is in line with the Constitution which stipulates that all people are equal in human dignity and are equal before the law in regard to their public rights and there is no discrimination on race, origin or religion.

This came during a seminar he organized in Abu Halifa, in the presence of members of Al-Malek Al-Sabah family and the area tribes. Al-Malek said Article 7 of the Constitution stipulates that justice, freedom and equality are the pillars of society and communication and compassion link between citizens. He pointed out many legal and constitutional experts have had questionable testimony and favor their people who have vague purpose as they point out that there is an article in the Constitution that bars ruling family members from contesting elections. He added this talk is baseless because the Constitution guarantees justice for all. He stressed on the need to close this chapter. He added, “When one ruling family member contests the elections and accepts the verdict of the people it is democracy and consolidation of justice.”

He said any candidate who meets the conditions must run the elections. He called on everyone to work for national reconciliation by forgetting the past and asking for a new Council of Ministers and Parliament without exception. He also called for amnesty for all prisoners of opinion and called for opening a new page to build a new and better Kuwait in the midst of security concern in the region.

On the laws passed by the previous Parliament, Al-Malek said the “dual citizenship and DNA laws do not serve anyone in these circumstances. These issues are sensitive and everyone knows that the previous governments in the 1970s and 1960s were the one who gave citizenship. Moreover, it is not allowed to question the nationality of any person.”

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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