By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Ninety-three candidates including eight women yesterday filed their nomination papers on the first day of registration to contest the Dec 5 parliamentary elections. As many as nine members of the outgoing National Assembly and six members of past assemblies registered as candidates.

Prominent among the candidates are sitting MP Abdulwahab Al-Babtain, who was the first to file his nomination papers. They also include former and sitting MPs Hamad Al-Harashani, Khalil Al-Saleh, Saadoun Hammad, Bader Al-Dahoum and Mohammad Hayef. Others include Al-Humaidi Al-Subaei, Faisal Al-Kandari, Majed Al-Muwaiti and Nasser Al-Dossari.

Other figures include two prominent ex-MPs - Faisal Al-Duwaisan and Yousef Al-Zalzalah - from the first constituency. Osama Al-Munawer, an opposition member of the Feb 2012 Assembly, former justice minister and lawmaker Yacoub Al-Sane and former veteran MP Mubarak Al-Khrainej were among the leading figures who filed their papers.

The fourth constituency led the rest in the largest number of candidates with 24 hopefuls, followed by the first constituency with 21 and the third with 20 candidates. Eighteen candidates filed their papers in the fifth constituency and eight in the second. Khadijah Al-Qallaf was the first woman to sign up as a candidate.

Government spokesman Tareq Al-Mazrem said that the Cabinet accepted the resignation of Information Minister Mohammad Al-Jabri, a sitting MP, who plans to run in the election. Hamad Al-Ansari, a liberal candidate in the third constituency, called for comprehensive political reforms by changing the election law. Mohsen Al-Khulaifi, an independent candidate from the first district, called for key reforms in health, housing and employment.

Fahd Al-Masaud filed from the third constituency and called for concerted efforts to fight corruption. Duwaim Al-Muwaizri, a lawyer contesting in the fourth constituency, said he will focus on laws to ensure more freedoms.