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W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2024-05-06 20:00:00
Al-Jarida sheds light on the reports that fell from the agenda of the National Assembly as a result of the dissolution of the 2023 Assembly, and their return to square one, despite the great strides that the relevant parliamentary committees made in discussing them with the relevant authorities and those interested, completing them with final reports, and submitting them to the Council, which did not do its part in presenting them, which ended with them falling from the agenda, as they are linked to proposals for laws submitted by the representatives in accordance with the internal regulations of the Council. Today, we begin presenting the report of the Parliamentary Legislative Committee, which was one of the dues of the legislative map of the dissolved Council, regarding amending the law on elections for members of the National Assembly regarding changing the voting mechanism and adopting the list system for candidacy, which fell from the Council’s agenda as a result of its non-issuance, despite the meetings and forums that preceded it with political groups, as is the case with many issues that fell for the same reason. After falling from the agenda of the National Assembly as a result of the dissolution of the 2023 Assembly, the law on elections for members of the Council returns to square one, after the Parliamentary Legislative Committee has come a long way with it and completed its report, which was controversial among representatives and political circles and was included on the agenda of the previous Council, which decided in the session of last February 6 to postpone the decision on it until the session of last March 5, but Saif preceded the dissolution of the Council to decide on the report, and the coordination meeting of representatives in the middle of last April decided to include the election law among the eight laws scheduled to be included for the session. First: The election law that the Legislative Committee concluded at the time stipulated that the voting mechanism would be between lists and individual votes, and left the issue of redistribution of electoral districts to the High Elections Commission, after it became clear to the committee that the redistribution of regions into electoral districts was a matter of disagreement among members, and would result in obstructing the approval of the law. The committee was satisfied with amending the election and voting mechanism and abolishing the single vote, although the solution to the voting mechanism that the committee came up with was also not welcomed by more than one representative group within the previous council since the committee set up the electoral forum in November 21, 2023, despite everyone agreeing on the badness of the existing electoral system. According to observers, with the change in the parliamentary composition in the new council, and some representatives being liberated from obligations in the previous council and evaluating their past experiences, the matter will face more complexity, if the legislative committee resubmits its report in the same format that it reached in the 2023 council, especially since it was the subject of major parliamentary controversy. A group at the time saw the importance of remaining in the existing system despite its agreement on Its disadvantages, and another adheres to the need to demolish it, as he believes that although changing the current system is a leap into the unknown for his future in running for elections, it is better than maintaining the current bad system. Parliamentary precedents regarding the cohesion of the parliamentary majority usually indicate the dissolution of this cohesion with the passage of time in general, and the introduction of a new electoral law usually returns the representative to reconsidering his electoral calculations, the exit of members from new elections, the joining of new members in the Council alongside the majority of the previous Council, and the passage of a longer time. During the period in which the report is supposed to be discussed (since last March), all of these factors pose difficulties for the new council to pass the report of the previous committee without changes in the issue of lists and the number of members stipulated in the report, namely that the list “is not less than 4 candidates and not more than 6 candidates,” taking into account the issue of the inadmissibility of forming the list on a factional or sectarian basis. The report of the legislative committee, which was completely dropped from the agenda, stated: “Both the election law and the electoral district law shall be responsible for regulating its provisions.” And its details, especially those related to organizing the electoral process, whether in terms of defining electoral districts or the method of election in general, as the committee is studying those related to organizing the methods and mechanism of election and voting, and postponing consideration of the issue of redistributing electoral districts, after completing all studies and data necessary to come up with a clear vision about it, and in a way that contributes to the development of the electoral process in the country, in which the competent authorities, civil society institutions and the General Election Commission participate, in accordance with the powers assigned to them under its law, so that these studies and data are presented to the public. The National Assembly to reach a final vision regarding justice and the distribution of electoral districts, as it became clear to the committee that the redistribution of regions into electoral districts is a matter of disagreement among the members, resulting in obstructing the adoption of the law, and it would have been more appropriate to depart from the aspect agreed upon among the members, which is amending the mechanism of election and voting and abolishing the single vote.” The report said, “The individual nature that prevails in the elections for members of the National Assembly is clearly evident, as nomination – according to the electoral law – is individual, and competition lies between individuals, not lists and programmes, and it goes without saying to point out the absence of legal regulation. Because of the presence of political parties in parliamentary life, and since elections in Kuwait have historically passed through several stages, starting with the division of Kuwait under Law No. 78 of 1966 into 10 electoral districts, each of which elects 5 members, passing through Law No. 99 of 1980, with 25 districts, each of which elects two members for the National Assembly, and Law No. 42 of 2006, which divided Kuwait into 5 districts. With 10 members, the voter casts his vote for 4 of the candidates. He added, and it is clear from the above that the voting power of the voter exceeds what is determined according to the current situation of one vote according to Decree Law No. 20 of 2012, and it is no longer a secret to anyone that it did not properly represent Kuwaiti society, in addition to the many negatives and disadvantages that its implementation resulted in. The democratic system and the report continued: And why The democratic system in Kuwait was of a special nature, due to the mixed system that combined the presidential and parliamentary systems, which necessarily led to a departure from a number of established parliamentary constants and traditions, especially those related to the formation of a homogeneous bloc with a governmental parliamentary majority. As stated, since this was a special situation, it had to be addressed with a similar special situation, through a new electoral system that combines the collective action system and the individual system in an attempt to create moderate compromise solutions and an appropriate parliamentary work environment that achieves A qualitative shift from the narrowness of individual work to the parliamentary work space by creating an opportunity for greater representation of parliamentary blocs, which contributes to raising the level of performance within the parliament hall and enhancing effective oversight of the work of the executive authority. The idea of the list. He said, and for all of the above, the committee decided to advance the idea of nomination for the list according to principles that enhance the success of the largest number of candidates who agree on visions and electoral programs, while providing the opportunity for those who wish to enter the electoral arena alone, and taking into account the opportunities for representation of minorities in electoral districts, in a simplified system. It is very similar and closest to the electoral systems that the Kuwaiti people practiced in various social, cooperative and student activities. Committee Amendments: The amendments made by the Committee regarding redetermination of electoral districts for membership in the National Assembly at that time were as follows: – Maintaining the schedule for redefining electoral districts for membership in the National Assembly accompanying Law No. 42 of 2006, amended by Decree Law No. 6 of 2022, which added new regions to electoral districts. With regard to the electoral system, the report stipulated approving candidacy for the National Assembly elections through a mixed system that combines the list system and the individual nomination system, in In each electoral district, each candidate has the right to choose the system with which he is most likely to fight the electoral battle, as the legislator does not prohibit him from standing alone if he wishes, nor does he confiscate his right to form parliamentary blocs that enhance his chances of success through collective action that targets the public interest and the interest of work within Parliament in particular, which is what this law was enacted for. The provisions and rules contained in the electoral law apply to the individual candidacy system, in a manner that does not conflict with the provisions of this law. With regard to the formation of the list and in terms of a quorum, the list is formed. From a number of candidates of no less than 4 and no more than 6, in order to ensure that lists with unified electoral visions and programs obtain no less than 40 to 60 percent of the seats in Parliament, and in the event that the list loses its quorum for any reason before the elections are held: it may complete its quorum of the candidates registered in the candidate lists, a maximum of 10 days before the date of the election, and if the list is unable to complete its quorum within the specified date, the candidates on the list will be considered as individual candidates. According to The report: If a number of seats in one electoral district are lost for any reason after holding the elections, the by-elections are held in accordance with Article 84 of the Constitution, and the general rules are applied in this regard, whereby if the number to be elected is less than the minimum quorum for the list, the elections are held according to the individual system, but if the number to be elected achieves the quorum for the list, the elections are held according to the list system and the individual candidacy system. In terms of the controls, they include the following: It is not permissible to form the list on a factional or sectarian basis, in order to ensure a national discourse that rejects all forms of racism. Each list is given a name, and the General Elections Commission announces the names of the lists in each electoral district, and arranges the names of the candidates within the list according to alphabetical letters. With regard to the number of votes and the mechanism for awarding them, each voter has the right to vote, as follows: one vote for one closed list in which one vote is counted for each candidate in it, and the candidate’s vote alone within another list or for one of the candidates according to the individual nomination system. As for announcing the winners: the 10 parliamentary seats in the district are won by the candidate with the highest score. A number of valid votes, whether nominated according to the list system or according to the individual system. In the event that the votes were equal between two or more candidates, the Election Committee cast ballots between them, and the person appointed by the lottery won the election. Opinion of the Committee The Committee at that time ended in approving by a majority of the opinions of its members present (6 – 1) on the proposals for laws and amendments submitted in accordance with the text reached by the Committee, as shown in the comparative table attached to the report, while the opinion of the minority that did not approve of the proposals for laws was based on the fact that the most appropriate electoral system is the 5-district system. With two votes. The amendment is necessary with caution. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice stressed during the meeting of the Legislative Committee the necessity of amending the electoral system, but the issue requires more caution, given that there are many technical issues that must be resolved, including the increasing number of voters, the geographical location of the new regions, and the mechanism for distributing them to the districts. They added that the redistricting of constituencies can only be done by a law issued by the National Assembly, and there is no objection to studying the distribution of regions into constituencies through the General Elections Commission. One vote does not achieve the public interest. Representatives of the Ministry of the Interior stated during the committee meeting of the necessity of amending the electoral system, as the one vote system does not achieve the public interest. They pointed out the need for the proposed laws to be studied further to come up with a vision that achieves justice and the public interest, but no response has reached the committee to date.
