National Assembly (Kuwait)

National Assembly (Kuwait)

The National Assembly, known as the Majlis Al-Umma ("House of the Nation") (Arabic: مجلس الأمة‎), is the legislature of Kuwait. The current speaker of the house is Ahmed Al-Saadoun. The Emir unconstitutionally dissolved the house in 1986 and restored it after the Gulf War in 1992. The Emir has also constitutionally dissolved the house several times—meaning that he dissolved it but allowed for elections immediately afterward.

Until recently, suffrage was limited to male Kuwaiti citizens above the age of 21 whose ancestors had resided in Kuwait since 1920, and adult males who have been naturalized citizens for at least 20 years. On May 16, 2005, the house passed a law in support of women's suffrage, allowing women to vote and run for office.

The fifty-seat house is elected every four years. Currently there are five geographically distributed electoral districts. Every eligible citizen is entitled to four votes, though one may choose to only cast one vote. The ten candidates with the most votes in each district win seats. Cabinet ministers (including the prime minister) are granted automatic membership in the Assembly, which increases the number of members in the house from fifty to sixty-six. The Cabinet ministers have the same rights as the elected MPs, with the following two exceptions: they do not participate in the work of committees, and they cannot vote when an interpolation leads to a no-confidence vote against one of the Cabinet members.