Opposition groups have won the majority of seats in Kuwait’s fifty-seat National Assembly, piling further pressure on the Gulf state’s ruling family, which has faced months of unprecedented political unrest.

The 2 February election was Kuwait’s fourth in under six-years after frequent dissolutions of parliament by the Emir. The results were announced on 3 February. Some 344 candidates participated across five constituencies, which are allocated ten seats each.

The National Assembly is one of the few elected bodies in the region which can challenge policies and even bring about no-confidence votes, a move which has been frequently deployed in Kuwait over the past five years.

The local Kuwait Times described the election as technically better than ever, but deeply troubling in its results. “Much of Kuwaiti society appears to have retreated to its most primal identity groupings, and it seems fractured as never before”, says the English-language newspaper.

Opposition MPs have dominated the election, winning more than 30 seats. Pro-government MPs have been left in the minority with only nine seats going to independents and liberals, along with seven to Shia members, who have traditionally supported the government to protect their interests in a Sunni-dominated country. Kuwait’s female MPs have also taken a step back. While there were four women in the previous parliament, none of the 24 female candidates won a seat in this term.

The political deadlock between the ruling family and parliament looks set to continue. The ruling Al-Sabah family will still retain power in the cabinet but “will probably be forced to dissolve parliament again if it continues to harass the executive”, says one source in the country.

The election was called by the Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah after months of political showdowns that included opposition lawmakers demanding to question the prime minister over corruption allegations and street protests, which culminated in the storming of parliament.