Pro-government MP Ali Al-Rashed yesterday submitted an amendment to the election system proposing that voters should be allowed to pick only one candidate down from a maximum of four, a move that came under heavy criticism from the opposition. Rashed said that the proposed amendment would provide better chances for minorities and small tribes and groups to be represented in the National Assembly.

Such an amendment however must be passed by the Assembly and accepted by the government in order to become law and then be implemented. The opposition has fiercely rejected any attempt to hold the revived 2009 Assembly, saying that any attempt to change the election law must be handled by the next Assembly. Others, mostly pro-government MPs and circles, are pressing to convince the government to pass the amendment in the form of an urgent Amiri decree issued in the absence of the Assembly.

Under the current election system introduced in 2006 under pressure from the opposition, the country is divided into five electoral constituencies, with each constituency electing 10 MPs for the 50-member Assembly. Also, under the system, each voter is allowed to elect a maximum of four candidates with the aim to provide minority groups and individual candidates a chance to win seats.

However, the new election system has been criticized for failing to eliminate or even reduce the outlawed tribal primaries and also for failing to check sectarian and factional tendencies, particularly in the 2009 and 2012 elections. It was also criticized for the unfair distribution of voters. For example, the second constituency has around 46,000 voters against around 120,000 registered voters in the fifth constituency.

Former MP Nasser Al-Duwailah announced yesterday that he along with constitutional experts have decided to challenge the five-constituency election system for being unconstitutional. The best solution that has been repeatedly floated to resolve the ills of the system is to turn Kuwait into a single constituency where voters pick up parties or coalitions instead of individuals. The idea has not been seriously discussed so far especially by the Assembly. So until a permanent amendment can be made, MPs have made a variety of proposals to resolve immediate problems.

Leading opposition MPs strongly criticized Rashed’s proposal, describing it as a part of attempts to change the election system with the aim to forge the “will of the nation” and subsequently the outcome of the election to reduce the presence of the opposition in the next Assembly. The opposition has threatened to take action if the election system is changed, with some opposition MPs threatening to boycott the election, but it became clear yesterday that no final decision had been reached by the opposition.

MP Jamaan Al-Harbash had said that the opposition would boycott the election if the election system was changed, while MP Mohammad Hayef said that so far no final decision was made. Leading opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak said on his Twitter account yesterday that if the system was changed, the opposition will boycott the election but will not sit at home. It will go out in peaceful gatherings along with supporters, Barrak said.