Divided Kuwait votes as opposition boycotts

Kuwaitis vote on Saturday for the second time in 10 months amid sharp divisions between the ruling family-led government and an opposition boycotting the polls over a change to the electoral law. On the eve of the vote, tens of thousands of opposition supporters on Friday marched peacefully in the capital Kuwait City to declare their rejection of the election and to urge voters to stay at home. The opposition has staged several protests and gatherings against the government for unilaterally amending the electoral law, saying the move amounted to a coup against the constitution. Under previous elections, a Kuwaiti voter was able to pick up to a maximum of four candidates and this was reduced by the amendment to just one. Each of Kuwait's five constituencies elects 10 lawmakers. Analysts see little hope the election, the fifth since mid-2006, will bring political stability to this wealthy Gulf state which has been rocked by lingering disputes stalling development despite abundant petrodollars. In the run-up to the election, the Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition staged massive street protests which often turned violent. About 150 people and 24 policemen were slightly hurt. Turnout percentage is seen as the key test for the showdown, with the opposition expecting around a 70-percent boycott while pro-government candidates are hoping that more than 50 percent of voters will show up. The opposition said it will deploy people to monitor the number of voters casting their ballot for fear the government may inflate the numbers. None of the opposition figures is among the 306 hopefuls, including 13 women, contesting the 50 seats, and so the next parliament is expected to be totally pro-government. Four Kuwaiti women made history in 2009 when they won seats in parliament for the first time, but no woman was elected in the February legislative polls. The electorate is to vote at around 100 polling stations in schools, with separate centres for men and women in line with the law. Kuwait has a population of 3.8 million as of mid-2012, but 69 percent of those are foreigners and only 422,000 people are eligible to vote from among Kuwaitis who number 1.2 million. The voting age is 21 and servicemen in the police and army are banned from taking part in the ballot. Women voters make up 54 percent of the electorate. Polling opens at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and closes 12 hours later, with the first results expected after midnight (2100 GMT) as ballot papers in Kuwait are still counted manually. Kuwait says it sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves and pumps around 3.0 million barrels of oil a day. Thanks to high prices, the emirate has amassed around $400 billion in assets over the past decade.