Cairo: Kuwaiti prosecutors are investigating a candidate in this week’s parliamentary elections for alleged vote-buying, Kuwaiti mediation said.
Five people, totaling 4 women, from the candidate’s crusade were previously arrested for being in the illegal purchase of votes for the candidate running in the third constituency, according to news reports.
Al Qabas newspaper said prosecutors had ordered the candidate to be detained pending questioning.
The activists have been in police custody for 3 days.
“The prosecution will request additional investigations into the main points of the case,” al-Qabas quoted an unnamed source as saying.
The suspects were arrested in a space after close police surveillance, Al Rai reported earlier this week. Approximately KD 3,960 were seized, along with electronic payment receipts and civil identity documents.
Investigations revealed that the space belongs to a Kuwaiti, who had rented it, the newspaper added.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said police detained several other people illegally buying votes inside a house. Sums of cash that could be overlooked were also seized, the ministry added, without elaborating.
“The Interior Ministry tracks and monitors vote-buying methods, whether classic or electronic links, and will not hesitate to firmly enforce the law,” he added in a statement.
Last month, Kuwait officially dissolved parliament and installed a new government until new elections are held on September 29.
In June, Kuwait’s Crown Prince Meshal Al Ahmad announced the dissolution of parliament and called for early elections to end a long-running standoff between the government and the parliamentary opposition.
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