Acquitted Kuwaiti politician to contest poll
Administrative Court accepts proxy application filing
The Administrative Court in Kuwait yesterday allowed former lawmaker Abdul Hamid Dashti to file his application to contest next month’s parliamentary elections through proxy.
The elections department on Sunday turned down the application presented by his son Talal, arguing that proxy filing was not allowed and that a candidate had to be physically present to have his papers accepted. Dashti has been out of Kuwait since March ostensibly to receive medical treatment abroad.
The controversial former lawmaker had been condemned to prison for insulting Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the judiciary in Kuwait.
In late September, a court in Kuwait acquitted Dashti in the case filed against him for insulting Saudi Arabia.
In its verdict, the criminal court said Article 4 of the State Security Law regarding acts of hostility could not be applied in the case, arguing that the defendant expressed an opinion and did not carry out an action, Kuwaiti media reported.
Under Kuwait’s laws, individuals convicted of hostile act against a foreign country that may expose Kuwait to war or the severance of diplomatic relations, are put on trial and may be sent to jail.
The ruling was pronounced in absentia as the lawmaker, facing several trials, had left Kuwait months ago after he took leave of absence for eight weeks. Dashti was in July and September sentenced to a total of 25 years in a series of cases for using social media and the media to attack Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Six days into the registration process, 291 people, including nine women, have signed up to contest in the elections on November 26. More names are expected to be registered before the Friday deadline.
Activists are hoping more women would join in the battle to assert themselves and boost the political empowerment that was launched in 2005 and led to the election of four women to the parliament in 2009.