Vote counting under way in Kuwait

[FarCenter]

Vote counting is under way in Kuwait after a day of polling ended for a new parliament, the second ballot in ten months.

Members of Kuwait's Shia minority are set to win about 15 seats of the 50-member parliament, their largest share ever, as the Sunni-dominated opposition boycotted the Saturday's elections. Shias had held only seven seats in the previous parliament.

The first results are expected after midnight [21:00 GMT], as ballot papers in Kuwait are still counted manually.

The polls have been marked by sharp divisions between the ruling family-led government and an opposition boycotting the polls over a change to the electoral law.

Opposition groups, ranging from hardline Islamists to Western-leaning liberals, have bitterly denounced a decree in October by Kuwait's emir to change the balloting system.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/2012121222111286410.html