Islamist-led Oppn wins majority in Kuwait

Kuwait’s Islamist-led opposition has won a landslide majority in the country’s snap polls by securing 34 seats in the 50-member parliament, officials results released on Friday showed.

Sunni Islamists took 23 seats compared with just 9 in the dissolved parliament, while liberals were the big losers, winning only 2 places against 5 previously. Voters punished pro-government MPs, reducing them to a small minority, especially 13 former MPs who were questioned by the public prosecutor over corruption charges.

The opposition scored strongly in the two tribal-dominated constituencies, winning 18 of the 20 available seats. The snap polls were held after the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state dissolved parliament following youth-led protests and after bitter disputes between the opposition MPs and the government.