Women shunned in Kuwait election

Radical Sunni Islamists made a strong showing in Kuwait's legislative election and minority Shi'ites gained one more seat, but women failed again to enter parliament, according to results released on Sunday.

Official results from four districts and unofficial returns from the fifth showed that the hardline Islamic Salafi Alliance and its allies won at least 10 seats in Saturday's poll, almost twice their strength in the previous chamber.

In all, Sunni Islamists won 21 seats, four more than their number in the previous parliament which was dissolved by the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state in March after a standoff between the government and MPs.

The moderate Islamic Constitutional Movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, however saw its strength cut by half to three MPs in the 50-member parliament.

The number of lawmakers from the Shi'ite Muslim minority increased by one to five.

All elected Shi'ite MPs are Islamists, including two members of the previous parliament who took part in a controversial rally in March to mourn the slain military commander of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Imad Mughnieh, which triggered sectarian tensions.

Analysts had predicted that sectarian divisions would play a key role in the election in the emirate, where Shi'ites constitute one-third of the native population of just over one million.

Liberals and their allies won seven seats, one less than in the previous house, while the nationalist Popular Action Bloc led by veteran opposition figure Ahmad Al-Saadun took four seats, down one.

Women, who were contesting the election for only the second time, failed to win any seats. Twenty-seven women were in the running.

There are 22 new faces in the parliament, mostly from tribal areas. Voters have said they wanted change in a bid to end political feuding and put the wealthy Opec state back on track of economic development.

Kuwait says it sits on 10% of global oil reserves and pumps around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd). It has amassed $250 billion of assets thanks to high oil prices.

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