Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a semi-democratic political system. The hybrid political system is divided between an elected parliament and appointed government.
The House of Al Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait.
The Emir of the State of Kuwait is the monarch and head of state of Kuwait. It is the most powerful position in the country. The emirs of Kuwait are members of the Al-Sabah dynasty, which originate from the Bani Utbah; a federation of clans in the Arabian Peninsula.
The National Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of Kuwait. The National Assembly meets in Kuwait City. Members are chosen through direct election; the country is divided into five electoral districts with ten members representing each district. There are no official political parties in Kuwait, therefore candidates run as independents during elections; upon winning, members usually form informal parliamentary blocs. The National Assembly is made up of 50 elected members as well as up to 15 appointed government ministers who are ex officio members. On October 16, 2016, the Amir of Kuwait issued a decree dissolving the National Assembly citing security challenges, paving the way for early elections, which were held on November 26, 2016.
Ahmed Al-Sadoun was the Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly from February 2012 until it was declared that the February 2012 elections were invalid. He was previously the speaker from 1985 to 1999. He is the leader of the Popular Action Bloc in the Assembly and served for eight terms.
The Constitution of Kuwait was created by the Constitutional Assembly in 1961–1962 and signed into law on 11 November 1962 by the Emir, the Commander of the Military of Kuwait Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah. The constitution establishes Kuwait as a Hereditary constitutional monarchy and Islam as the state religion.
Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a semi-democratic political system. The hybrid political system is divided between an elected parliament and appointed government.
Jamaan Al-Harbash is a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the second district. Born in 1970, Al-Harbash obtained a PhD in Islam and worked as a professor at Kuwait University teaching Islamic ideology before being elected to the National Assembly in 2006.
Marzouq Al-Ghanim is the current speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the second district. Al-Ghanim earned a BA in mechanical engineering and worked for Boubyan Petrochemicals before being elected to the National Assembly in 2006. He is the son of Faiza Al-Kharafi. He was elected as the Speaker in 2013.
Musallam Al-Barrak is a Kuwaiti politician. He was a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the fourth district.
Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager is an award-winning journalist, former member of the National Assembly of Kuwait, and former chairman of the Arab Parliament.
Mohammed Hayef Al-Mutairi is a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the fourth district. Born in 1964, Al-Mutairi studied Islamic studies and served in the Kuwait Municipality before being elected to the National Assembly in 2008. While political parties are technically illegal in Kuwait, Al-Mutairi affiliates with Islamist deputies.
The Kuwaiti protests refers to the series of 2011–12 demonstrations for government reforms in the state of Kuwait. In November 2011, the government of Kuwait resigned in response to the protests, making Kuwait one of several countries affected by the Arab Spring to experience major governmental changes due to unrest. The protests began with stateless people (Bedoon).
Occupy Reykjavík (OR) was a collaboration that included peaceful protests and demonstrations against economic inequality, social injustice and corporate greed in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 1 December 2012 after early elections in February 2012 were declared invalid.
The 2012–13 Egyptian protests were part of a large scale popular uprising in Egypt against then-President Mohamed Morsi. On 22 November 2012, millions of protesters began protesting against Morsi, after his government announced a temporary constitutional declaration that in effect granted the president unlimited powers. Morsi deemed the decree necessary to protect the elected constituent assembly from a planned dissolution by judges appointed during the Mubarak era.
Aseel al-Awadhi is a former member of the National Assembly of Kuwait. She was a professor of philosophy at Kuwait University before moving into politics. Al-Awadhi first stood for a seat on the National Assembly in 2008, losing the election but gaining the highest number of votes for a female candidate since women were allowed to stand. She was elected representative of Kuwait's Third District in 2009; a post that she held until 2012.
The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Kuwait.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 26 November 2016. They follow the dissolution of the parliament elected in 2013 by Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in October 2016. Under the constitution, elections must be held within two months. Opposition candidates won 24 of the 50 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was around 70 percent.
