Voters in Kuwait’s Fifth Constituency would head to polling stations on Saturday in the by-election, the 14th in Kuwait’s history, to select a representative following the vacancy of a seat occupied by Bader Zayed Al-Azmi.
By-election is held in line with Article 84 of the Constitution, which stipulated that elections
are held within two months following the vacancy of a parliamentary seat. The mandate of
the new member shall last until the end of that of his predecessor.
Since the 1963 legislative elections, by-elections were held for different reasons: either
bypassing of a member, a resignation, or annulment of results. The first was when Sulaiman Ahmad Al-Haddad, of the 6th constituency, resigned from the National Assembly on October 27, 1964. By-elections were held on December 23 bringing Ali Al-Omar to the house.
Eight MPs resigned on December 7, 1965, in protest against the endorsement of what they
considered “laws curbing freedoms.” They were Ahmad Al-Khatib, Jassem Al-Qatami,
Rashed Al-Tawheed, Sami Al-Munayyes, Sulaiman Al-Mutawa, Abdulrazaq Al-Khaled, Ali AlOmar, and Yaaqoub Al-Humaidhi.
By-election was held on February 9, 1966, resulting in the victory of Ahmad Al-Abduljalil,
Nayef Al-Khulaifi, Rashed Al-Hajri, Sulaiman Al-Thuwaikh, Abdulaziz Al-Masaeed, Ghannam
Al-Jumhour, Mohammad Al-Wazzan, and Nasser Al-Muaili.
MP Mudhi Al-Nazzal resigned from the parliament on October 29, 1966, and a by-election
was held resulting in the victory of Khaled Al-Meseb.Seven MPs resigned during the 2nd legislative term in 1967: Khaled Al-Fuhaid, Rashed AlFarhan, Abdulrazzaq Al-Zaid, Abdulaziz Al-Saqer, Ali Al-Omar, Mohammad Al-Kharafi and Mohammad Al-Adsani. Their resignations were in protest of the outcome of the elections.
By-election was held on May 10, 1967, bringing Ibrahim Al-Mailam, Ahmad Al-Abduljalil, Ahmad Al-Khulaifi, Khaled Al-Tahous, Khalaf Al-Otaibi, Rashed Ismail, and Ghanem Al-Amiri to the house. MP Ali Thunayyan Al-Athaina who represented the 9th constituency passed away during the 3rd legislative term. The seat was announced vacant on December 11, 1971.
By-election was held on February 9, 1972, resulting in the victory of Faleh Al-Suwaileh. On April 7, 1982, the sixth by-election was held in the 14th constituency following the death of MP Nasser Al-Osaimi. Humoud Al-Jabri won the vote. On December 29, 1992, the Constitutional Court annulled voting in the 14th and 16th constituencies, an unprecedented verdict. By-election on February 15, 1993, resulted in the victory of Mubarak Al-Khurainej and Humoud Al-Jabri, the very MPs whose seats were contested.
The 8th by-election was held on February 19, 1997, after candidate Saadoun Al-Otaibi contested results at the Constitutional Court. However, Waleed Al-Jeri and Khaled Al-Adwa won elections and returned to their seats. MP Khaled Al-Adwa contested the voting results of the 21st constituency in the 9th legislative term. The Constitutional Court ruled in his favor and annulled membership of Saadoun AlOtaibi. By-election was held on January 24, 2000, and Al-Adwa won. On December 7, 2000, the 10th by-election was held following the passing of Sami AlMunayyes. Jamal Al-Omar won. Five MPs resigned from the house during the 14th legislative term: Riadh Al-Adsani, Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi, Hussain Al-Quwiaan, Ali Al-Rashed, and Safa Al-Hashem. They resigned due to a dispute over an interpellation against the Prime Minister. The house approved the resignations on May 15, 2014. By-election was held on June 26, in which Ahmad Al-Qedheebi, Ahmad Lari, Abdullah Maayouf, Fares Al-Otaibi, and Mohammad Al-Barrak won seats.
On February 20, 2016, the by-election was held following the demise of MP Nabil Al-Fadhl, and Ali Al-Khamees won the seat. On March 16, 2019, a by-election was held in the 2nd and 3rd constituencies following vacancy of seats used to be occupied by Jamaan Al-Herbesh and Waleed Al-Tabtabae. Bader Al-Mulla and Abdullah Al-Kanderi won the elections.
Source- KUNA