Kuwaitis casting votes to choose new parliament after protests

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kuwaitis are casting their votes for the second time this year as they head to the polls to choose a new parliament amid growing unrest, BBC News reports.

On the eve of the election, tens of thousands of protesters in Kuwait City called for a boycott over changes made to the voting rules last month. Opposition MPs say the amendment manipulates the ballot in favor of pro-government candidates.

Kuwait has had months of confrontations between the opposition and government. The main opposition grievance was an Oct 19 decree ordered by the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah, whose family dominates Kuwait's government.

The crisis was sparked in June, when the Constitutional Court annulled parliamentary elections held in February, in which the Islamist-led opposition made significant gains. The court also reinstated the previous assembly, allied to the ruling family.

After months of protests, Kuwait's emir ordered the dissolution of that parliament and announced new elections.

His decree last month cut the number of candidates a voter can elect from four to one, saying it would ensure a fairer representation of people in the parliament.

Critics of the amendment say it gives the government greater influence over the outcome of the ballot. Opposition MPs say the changes breaches the Gulf state's constitution. As a result they decided not to participate in the election.