Kuwait's Shi'ite minority lost more than half of their seats, while liberals made slight gains in the Gulf state's second poll in eight months, official results have shown.
The final results early on Sunday also recorded a significant rise in turnout on the previous election, the result of which was controversially scrapped in a court ruling last month.
While Shi'ite candidates won a record 17 seats in December, this time around they managed only eight seats in the 50-member parliament. Shi'ites form around 30 per cent of Kuwait's native population of 1.23 million.
Figures posted on the information ministry website also showed voter turnout was 52.5 per cent, compared to December's record low of 40 per cent.
Some groups who had boycotted the previous polls chose to take part this time, in particular Bedouin tribes and liberal groups such as the National Democratic Alliance.
The liberals, who had no seat in the previous parliament, won at least three this time. Sunni Islamists increased their presence from five to seven seats.
The higher turnover came despite sweltering summer heat in the desert emirate as the mercury hit 45 degrees Celsius, Muslim Ramadan fasting and calls by the opposition to boycott the ballot.
It was the second time the opposition had called for a boycott in protest at an electoral law that it says enables the ruling Al-Sabah family-controlled government to manipulate the outcome.
The law was ruled legal in June by the constitutional court, even though it dissolved parliament on procedural flaws, and ordered Saturday's election.
The new parliament includes as many as 26 new faces, reflecting the desire of Kuwaiti voters for change in the hope of an end to ongoing political crises.
This election is the sixth in the oil-rich emirate over the past seven years.
The last two parliaments were dissolved by the constitutional court on procedural grounds, while previous parliaments were dissolved by the emir.
But only a few opposition members were among the 300 hopeful candidates.
They included eight women, the lowest number since Kuwaiti women won political rights in 2005. In the end, only two women were elected to parliament, compared to three in the previous parliament.
Although Kuwait has the Gulf's oldest elected parliament, all key government posts are held by members of the Al-Sabah dynasty which has ruled the country unchallenged for more than 250 years.
"I think the root of the problem is the unwillingness of some sections of the Al-Sabah ruling family to see an elected parliament," analyst Anwar al-Rasheed said ahead of the polls.
Of Kuwait's population of 3.9 million, just 31 per cent are citizens and of that 1.23 million only 440,000, aged 21 and over, are eligible to vote.
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