By B Izzak

KUWAIT: A special commission set up by the interior ministry to study if candidates for the National Assembly elections fulfill requirements under the law yesterday decided to disqualify 34 candidates, some of them leading opposition figures. The interior ministry did not publish the names of the disqualified candidates, but a number of them announced the decision on their Twitter accounts and some online news outlets published other names.

The reasons for the disqualification of a majority of the candidates were their criminal records. Many of them were condemned in final court verdicts that convicted them of criminal offences, mostly involving financial cases. The list of names circulated on social media includes the names of three sitting MPs - two for being under investigation over suspected links to a Bangladeshi MP jailed in Kuwait, and a third for being allegedly convicted in a drugs offense. One of the MPs - Saadoun Hammad - denied he was disqualified and affirmed that he was still in the race, but the other two did not comment.

Those barred also include two leading opposition figures - former Islamist MP Bader Al-Dahoum and liberal candidate Anwar Al-Fiker - who both condemned the "illegal decision" and vowed to contest it in court. The two said on Twitter that they were informed by the interior ministry yesterday that they have been barred from contesting the Dec 5 polls for taking part in an opposition rally that stormed the Assembly building in 2011.

Dahoum said the decision is illegal and contradicts the law issued a few years ago which clearly states that it does not apply to past cases. Fiker also vowed to fight the disqualification. Opposition MPs Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, Mohammad Al-Mutair, Adel Al-Damkhi and Abdulkarim Al-Kandari strongly criticized the disqualifications, called the move illegal and accused the interior minister of attempting to influence the outcome of the election.

Other disbarred candidates mentioned include two former MPs, both over financial cases. They also include the son of a self-exiled ex-MP over financial cases. A special court will look into the challenges of the candidates and must issue its final verdict before the polls. The court can cancel the decision and allow candidates to contest the election.

The opposition Kuwaiti Progressive Movement said in a statement yesterday that hopes that the government will change its course of oppressive measures against the opposition have faded, as the same policies have continued for the past decade. The movement said decisions to disqualify a number of opposition candidates is proof of this government policy.