Q&A: Kuwait parliamentary election

Polls take place just seven months after the previous election

Kuwaitis vote for a new parliament on Saturday - the third in 17 months - after the most recent National Assembly was dissolved in June.

Less than six months after it was elected, the country's top court found that the electoral commission overseeing the polls was illegitimate. However, the court upheld controversial amendments to the electoral law, which reduced the number of candidates each Kuwaiti can vote for from four to one. The changes sparked violent street protests and prompted the opposition's boycott of the polls in December 2012, as well as of the elections this year.

None of the parliaments elected in Kuwait since 2003 have managed to complete their four-year tenure, and there is a growing call from Kuwaiti citizens for more political stability so that challenges facing the country can be addressed more effectively.

Most candidates focus on local issues such as employment, housing, health care and education