By KUNA,
Kuwait : Parliamentary polls due to be held on May 17 on the basis of five electoral constituencies, for the first time, are expected to draw a large number of candidates.
The polls will be held according to Law Number 42 of 2006 that divided Kuwait into five constituencies. The previous polls had been held on the basis of the 10 electoral districts, between the first and fourth legislative terms.
The 25-constituency system was adopted between the fifth and eleventh legislative terms.
And number of candidates in the past terms ranged between 180 and 477.
The figure of the nominees in the first polling held on January 23, 1963, amounted to 205, competing for 16,889 votes.
The number, in the second election, held on January 25, 1967, amounted to 220, for 27,296 votes. And it was 180 for 40,649 voters for the third election held on January 23, 1971, 256 for 52,994 votes in elections held on January 27, 1975, 477 nominees for 42,008 votes in the fifth election held on February 23, 1981.
In sixth polling, held on February 20, 1985, the number of the candidates reached 231, competing for 56,845 votes. In the seventh, held on February 20, 1985, it stood at 278, for a 56,845-soul electorate.
The number of the nominees for the seventh election, held on October 5, 1992, reached 278, for up to 81,440 voters.
As to the eightth election, held on October 7, 1996, the number of the nominees amounted to 230, for up to 10,7169.
The nineth elections that were held on July 3, 1999, witnessed registration of up to 288 nominees for up to 112,882 voters. In the 10th, held on July 5, 2003, the number stood at 246, for 136,715 voters.
The eleventh election, on June 29, 2006, saw registration of the names of 249 parliamentary seat hopefuls, including 27 women. They competed to win support from an electorate of 340,248 citizens.