The opposition bloc made hurried statements to denounce the government’s decision to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court because the verdict regarding the constitutionality of the constituencies system may be unexpected.

“When it comes to changing the distribution of constituencies, the Constitutional Court might throw the ball to the 2009 Parliament’s court, which means that it must convene to look into the current law,” said sources who spoke to Al-Qabas, adding that the opposition “could have caused a reason for embarrassment with vows made before learning of the court’s ruling.”

The bloc, a coalition of oppositionists consisting primarily of lawmakers who dominated majority seats in the annulled 2012 parliament, announced plans to stage mass demonstrations and public seminars should the Cabinet file a request with the Court to challenge the constituency of the electoral law which divides Kuwait into five electoral constituencies, enabling each voter to vote for four candidates within the constituency they reside in.

Meanwhile, oppositionist figure Ahmad Al-Saadoun launched a campaign on his Twitter account calling for ‘sovereignty belonging to the people.’ “The willpower of the people was never defeated throughout history, and so will never the willpower of the Kuwaiti people,” Al-Saadoun posted, describing the referral step as “a coup against the Constitution by the alliance of corruption and enemies of the constitutional system.”

MP Dr Faisal Al-Mislem called the referral “an attack against the willpower of the people and a decision to confront the public by force,” while a member of the annulled 2012 parliament Riyadh Al- Adasani argued that they failed to refer the Municipal Council’s electoral law “in which fourth constituency voters are 58,000 in number, while second constituency voters amount to 20,000 in all.”

MP Saleh Ashour argued that the opposition bloc’s position “puts them as if they are against the direction of HH the Amir and the Kuwaiti public, which will cost them popularity,” reported Al-Qabas.

Member of the 2012 parliament Dr Khalid Shukhayyer told Al-Rai daily in that “the single constituency and election by list system is the replacement that the bloc has agreed upon for the five-constituencies system,” arguing that the government is not looking for an alternative but is plotting for “something suspicious.”