KUWAIT

According to reports, Kuwaiti opposition has described the government's efforts to change the electoral laws before polls expected this year as a "coup", and promised to push for full parliamentary democracy. In June, 2012, Kuwait's constitutional court effectively dissolved a parliament dominated by opposition Islamists and reinstated the previous, more government-friendly assembly. The dispute deepened last week when the government decided to refer the electoral system to the constitutional court. According to an opposition statement on August 12, 2012, "The majority bloc views what is happening as a real coup by the political authority against the constitutional system - a coup aimed at seizing the rights of the nation through the constitutional court." The opposition has also accused the government of dragging the judiciary into a political dispute over the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies that helped the opposition to win a majority in elections in February, 2012. 1

• 1. “Kuwaiti opposition slams government election 'coup',” The National, August 13, 2012 at http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/kuwaiti-opposition-slam...