| 17th Legislative Session الفصل التشريعي السابع عشر | |
| Before: | 2022 (annulled) |
| After: | 2024 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Speaker |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Ahmed Al-Sadoun |
| Chamber1 Leader2 Type: | Deputy Speaker |
| Chamber1 Leader2: | Mohammed Al-Mutair |
| Chamber1 Leader3 Type: | Secretary |
| Chamber1 Leader3: | Mubarak Al-Tasha (1st session) Osama Al-Shaheen (2nd Session) |
| Chamber1 Leader4 Type: | Controller |
| Chamber1 Leader4: | Mohammed Al-Huwaila (1st session) Falah Al-Hajri (2nd session) |
| Chamber2: | Cabinet of Kuwait |
| Chamber2 Image: | Emblem of Kuwait.svg |
| Chamber2 Image Size: | 100px |
| Membership2: | 16 ministers (including an elected MP) |
| Chamber2 Leader1 Type: | Prime Minister |
| Chamber2 Leader1: | Ahmad Al-Nawaf (20 June — 20 December 2023) Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem (4 January — 15 February 2024) |
| Chamber2 Leader2 Type: | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Chamber2 Leader2: | Talal Al-Khaled (20 June — 20 December 2023) |
| Session1 Start: | 20 June 2023 |
| Session1 End: | 2 August 2023 |
| Session2 Start: | 31 October 2023 |
| Session2 End: | 15 February 2024 |
The 2023 Kuwaiti National Assembly (commonly known as Majlis 2023) was the 17th legislative session of the National Assembly. Members were elected on 6 June 2023. The session started on 20 June 2023. The session was dissolved on 15 February 2024 due to Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi allegedly insulting Emir Mishal Al-Ahmad.[1]
See main article: 2023 Kuwaiti general election. After the 2022 election results were annulled on 19 March,[2] elections were held on 6 June 2023. 38 MPs kept their seats from the annulled 2022 parliament. The Opposition kept its majority in parliament, while only one woman was elected.[3] The turnout was 59.27% of the 470,369 voters that cast their votes. Hadas and Salafis both won three seats, and the Shiite Taalof group won two seats. The 42 remaining seats were won by unaffiliated MPs.[4] The rate of change in elected members was 24%, compared to the 2022 elections. On July 26, the constitutional court rejected all appeals regarding the electoral process and results confirming the legitimacy of the session and results.[5]
| Constituency | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Constituency | Abdullah Al-Mudhaf | ||
| Osama Al-Zaid | |||
| Ahmed Lari | |||
| Khaled Al-Ameera | |||
| Hassan Jawhar | |||
| Dawood Marafie | |||
| Essa Al-Kandari | |||
| Hamad Al-Midlij | |||
| Osama Al-Shaheen | |||
| Adel Al-Damkhi | |||
| Second Constituency | Marzouq Al-Ghanim | ||
| Shuaib Shabaan | |||
| Abdullah Al-Anbaie | |||
| Falah Dhahi | |||
| Mohammed Al-Mutair | |||
| Abdulwahab Al-Essa | |||
| Bader Nashmi | |||
| Fahad Al-Masoud | |||
| Hamad Al-Matar | |||
| Bader Al-Mulla | |||
| Third Constituency | Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf | ||
| Ahmed Al-Sadoun | |||
| Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi | |||
| Muhannad Al-Sayer | |||
| Abdulaziz Al-Saqabi | |||
| Jenan Boushehri | |||
| Hamad Al-Obaid | |||
| Fares Al-Otaibi | |||
| Hamad Al-Olayan | |||
| Jarrah Al-Fouzan | |||
| Fourth Constituency | Bader Sayyar | ||
| Mubarak Al-Tasha | |||
| Mutib Al-Thaydi | |||
| Mohammad Al-Ruqaib | |||
| Mohammed Hayef | |||
| Mubarak Al-Hajraf | |||
| Abdullah Fahaad | |||
| Saad Al-Khanfour | |||
| Fayez Al-Jamhour | |||
| Shuaib Al-Muwaizri | |||
| Fifth Constituency | Saud Al-Asfoor | ||
| Hamdan Al-Azmi | |||
| Khaled Al-Munaes | |||
| Hani Shams | |||
| Marzouq Al-Hubaini | |||
| Fahad bin Jamea | |||
| Abdulhadi Al-Ajmi | |||
| Mohammed Al-Mahhan | |||
| Majed Mussaed | |||
| Mohammed Al-Huwaila | |||
| Source: KUNA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) | |||
The Speaker as well as his deputy, secretary, and controller were elected via direct vote from the MPs on the first session on 20 June 2023. Minister Essa Al-Kandari announced that the government will not vote on these elections.
Former Speaker Ahmed Al-Sadoun announced his intention to run for speaker elections on 7 June 2023.[6] During the opening session, Ahmed Al-Sadoun and Dawood Marafie ran for the speaker position. Marafie withdrew against Al-Sadoun, later going unopposed.[7]
Mohammed Al-Mutair, deputy speaker of the annulled 2022 parliament, and Marzouq Al-Hubaini announced their intention to run for the deputy speaker position.
Al-Mutair got 32 votes, while Al-Hubaini got 14. The sixteen government ministers did not vote.[8]
Mubarak Al-Tasha won the secretary position unopposed. Mohammed Al-Huwaila won the controller position, but Hani Shams and Falah Dhahi withdrew.
Three permanent committees held elections which are the Education & Culture Committee, Health, Societal, & Labor Committee, and the Budgets Committee.
In the Education & Culture Committee election, Hamad Al-Matar got elected with 22 votes, Jenan Boushehri got 17 votes, Abdulhadi Al-Ahli got with 12 votes, Hamad Al-Olayan got 10 and Mohammed Al-Huwaila got 9 votes. Fahad bin Jamea withdrew.
In the Health, Societal & Labor Committee election, Bader Al-Enezi got elected with 22 votes, Hani Shams with 12 votes, Majed Masaed and Saad Al-Khanfour got 11 votes, Fahad bin Jamea got 9 votes. Fares Al-Otaibi withdrew.
In the Budgets Committee election, Abdulwahab Al-Essa got elected with 22 votes, Adel Al-Damkhi got 19 votes, Saud Al-Asfoor and Osama Al-Zaid got 17 votes, Hamad Al-Matar got 16 votes, and Fahad Al-Masoud got 14 votes. Bader Al-Mulla withdrew after getting 14 votes in the election.[9]
On June 20, 8 of 11 permanent committees got their seats unopposed.
Members: Mohammed Hayef, Khaled Al-Otaibi, Khaled Al-Tammar, Abdulhadi Al-Ajmi.
Members: Majed Masaed, Khaled Al-Tammar, Mohammed Al-Mahhan, Bader Al-Shammari.
Members: Bader Al-Mulla, Abdullah Fahaad, Abdulwahab Al-Essa, Abdullah Al-Anbaie, Dawood Marafie, Bader Al-Enezi.
Members: Osama Al-Shaheen, Jarrah Al-Fouzan, Mubarak Al-Tasha, Jenan Boushehri, Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi, Abdulaziz Al-Saqabi.
Members: Abdulhadi Al-Ajmi, Mohammed Al-Huwaila, Hamad Al-Olayan, Jenan Boushehri.
Members: Majed Masaed, Hani Shams, Fahad bin Jamea, Bader Al-Enezi.
Members: Marzouq Al-Hubaini, Shuaib Shabaan, Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi, Abdulaziz Al-Saqabi.
Members: Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Dawood Marafie, Mohammed Al-Mahhan, Mohammed Al-Huwaila, Ahmed Lari, Fahad Al-Masoud, Fares Al-Otaibi.
Members: Hamad Al-Matar, Saud Al-Asfoor, Fahad Al-Masoud, Abdulwahab Al-Essa.
Members: Hamad Al-Olayan, Jarrah Al-Fouzan, Mutib Al-Thaydi, Osama Al-Shaheen.
Members: Muhammad Al-Sayer, Hamad Al-Obaid.[13]
The first session ran from 20 June until 2 August 2023. On July 13, the government and parliament unanimously voted in favor of the new “Residential Cities” law. This law allowed private companies to develop new residential areas in Kuwait in order to solve the housing crisis.[14] On July 14, parliament added housewives to the governmental Afiya medical insurance.[15]
On August 1, parliament passed the “High Electoral Commission” law. The commission will organize future general elections. It also permitted members, including Musallam Al-Barrak and Bader Al-Dahoum, that were sentenced to jail in Amir-offending cases run in future elections. It also banned all political advertisements and rallies 24 hours before Election Day. It also stated that residents would vote in the constituency their Civil ID address is in. Finally, the commission must release the whole election result within ten days.[16]
On February 7, Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi pointed out differences between the Amiri speech during the opening of the second session and the Amiri speech of Mishal Al-Ahmad after he took oath.[17] On February 13, parliament rejected the government and Al-Sadoun’s request to censor Al-Kanderi’s comments on February 7 by 44-16.[18] On February 15, the government requested the dissolution of parliament after it considered Al-Kanderi’s comments as an insult towards the emir. Resulting in the dissolution of parliament by the emir on the same day of the request.[19]