Manama: Thousands of Kuwaitis have used a public rally to pile up pressure to cancel the move to refer the controversial electoral law to the Constitutional Court.
The government last month said that it referred the law to the country’s highest court to ensure there are no legal loopholes that could be used to challenge any national election and void its results.
It also argued that it wanted a fairer representation of the people in the unicameral parliament.
The move was made after the Constitutional Court in June ruled that the decrees to dissolve the 2009 parliament and call for elections in February were unconstitutional.
The surprise ruling de facto dissolved the parliament elected in 2012 and reinstated the former legislative body, sparking a bitter standoff between the government and the opposition.
Members of the opposition who had a greater presence in the 2012 parliament said that the cabinet’s move to redraw the electoral constituencies was a coup to limit their power and secure a more compliant parliament.
The more hawkish members called for a series of public rallies to put pressure on the government and make it review its moves.
The rally on Monday evening at the Irada Square, opposite from the parliament building, was the second to be held by the opposition amid statements that they move ahead with their pressure until the court issues its verdict.
The court in its first session on September 5 said that it would give its ruling on September 25.
In anticipation, the opposition said that it would hold its next rally at the square on September 24.
A pledge by some of the participants to sleep over at the square was not carried out and the place was vacated shortly after midnight, reports said.
The interior ministry on Monday warned that it would not allow sleepovers and that it would adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards anyone who broke the law.
