Kuwait: The interior ministry published the names of all eligible voters at police stations to allow Kuwaiti citizens to ensure they are listed for the National Assembly elections. Petitions are accepted and dealt with within 24 hours, the ministry said. Based on the lists, there are 796,000 eligible voters in Kuwait, a massive 40 percent jump from the previous polls on Dec 5, 2020, when there were just 568,000 voters. The big increase is attributed to the addition of many new residential areas to the existing constituencies, which were not added in the 2020 polls. According to the lists, there are 408,000 female voters and 388,000 male voters.

Former opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum, whose election was revoked by the constitutional court last year, said he has challenged a decision by authorities not to include his name among eligible voters. He has also filed a lawsuit at the court for the same reason. Under Kuwaiti law, Dahoum will not be able to run in the polls if his name is not included in the voters’ lists. He was to hold a press conference on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, opposition candidates and former MPs welcomed on Sunday the announcement by former three-time National Assembly speaker and opposition leader Ahmad Al-Saadoun to run in the forthcoming general polls and immediately called for electing him as next house speaker. The media committee of the veteran politician announced that the 87-year-old Saadoun will run in the Assembly elections, expected to be held next month, after the parliament was dissolved over political disputes.

Several members of the dissolved house and prominent election candidates immediately welcomed Saadoun’s announcement and said they will support him as speaker for the next house if they are elected. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal A-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said in June that the government will not interfere in the polls and the election of the Assembly speaker, a major boost for the opposition candidate.

Leader of the nationalist Popular Action Movement, former MP Musallam Al-Barrak, said the bloc’s candidates who win seats in the Assembly will elect Saadoun as speaker. Saadoun’s announcement is the biggest news so far in the current election campaign. He had served as speaker in 1985, 1992 and 1996, but lost in 1999 when the government backed the late Jassem Al-Khorafi for the post.