2008 Kuwaiti general election

Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 17 May 2008 after the Emir Sabah Al-Sabah dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait on 19 March 2008 over constant clashes between the government and the elected MPs. The last elections were held less than two years previously and saw a loose alliance of reformists and Islamists gain almost two thirds of the seats.

Nearly 362,000 Kuwaitis were eligible to vote, more than half of them women, and 27 of the 275 candidates were women; none of the female candidates won.

New rules introduced for this election have changed the 25 constituencies electing two to five electing 10. This was a demand of the reformist Kuwaiti Orange Movement, which led mass demonstrations in 2006, who believed the change would impede vote buying electoral frauds.

A leading theme in the election was inflation, which hit a record high 9.5% four months before the election. Many candidates in the election proposed increased governmental subsidies to be funded by oil profits.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Sunni candidates			21
	Independents			13
	Popular Action Bloc			9
	Liberals			7
Total				50
Total votes		214,886	–
Registered voters/turnout		361,684	59.41
Source: IFES

Aftermath

Following the election, Jassem Al-Kharafi was elected speaker.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Jassem Al-Kharafi	Independent	52	82.54
	Abdullah Al-Roumi	Independent	11	17.46
Total			63	100.00
Valid votes			63	96.92
Invalid/blank votes			2	3.08
Total votes			65	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			65	100.00