Wasmi demands recounting of votes in 2022 elections
By B Izzak
KUWAIT: Former MP Obaid Al-Wasmi on Wednesday reiterated allegations that the Sept 2022 parliamentary elections had been marred with irregularities and demanded a recounting of the votes. Although the entire 2022 election process was annulled by the constitutional court in a ruling on March 19, Wasmi submitted a request to the National Assembly office to oversee the recounting of votes at the Assembly building to establish claims that the polls had been rigged.
He called on the Assembly office to invite all those concerned with the issue, in addition to foreign ambassadors and local and international media, to attend the proposed recounting of votes. During the scrapped polls, the opposition scored a landslide victory and unanimously voted veteran opposition figure Ahmad Al-Saadoun to be the speaker of the house. Wasmi himself won a seat from the fourth constituency.
Wasmi reiterated claims that wide-scale irregularities were committed during the elections and during the counting of votes, alleging that some opposition MPs secured a huge number of votes that is impossible to secure. He also claimed that during the polls, thousands of ineligible citizens were allowed to cast their votes, including some servicemen who are barred from voting by the election law, and some naturalized citizens who have not completed the required period of their citizenship to be able to vote.
The constitutional court on March 19 annulled the Sept 2022 elections on the grounds that the Amiri decree that dissolved the previous Assembly, known as the 2020 Assembly, was not in line with the constitution. The court also reinstated the dissolved 2020 Assembly. The government accepted the ruling, but HH the Amir decided last week to dissolve the 2020 house and call for fresh polls. The time and date of the new elections have not yet been set.
Wasmi also criticized HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah and urged him to answer his parliamentary questions about the number of voters who cast their votes during the 2022 elections. The Assembly office did not immediately comment on Wasmi’s demands.
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