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Kuwait parliament in chaos over electoral reform
 KUWAIT CITY - The Kuwaiti parliament broke up in chaos on Monday when reformist MPs walked out in protest at attempts to block a redrawing of constituencies intended to counter alleged vote-buying. The reformers left the session when voting began on a motion tabled by conservative and tribal MPs that sought to refer a government-backed bill reducing the number of consituencies from 25 to 10 to the constitutional court.Twenty-eight of parliaments 50 MPs walked out when a government minister became the first to vote in favour of the motion. Chants of Down with the government, Long live Kuwait, We want five (constituencies), came from a packed gallery as the MPs mounted the unprecedented walkout. The reformist MPs want to go further than the government bill and slash the number of constituencies to five in a bid to fight vote-buying and other irregularities. Government members and their supporters in parliament left after the opposition walkout, prompting the reformist MPs to return. Posted by: Steve White 2006-05-16 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=152038 |