Kuwait Emir accepts cabinet resignation

Kuwait Emir asks PM and ministers to continue as caretaker government until new cabinet is formed



Shaikh Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah, Kuwait Prime Minister

gulfnews : Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Sunday issued a decree accepting the resignation of the state’s cabinet, the official Kuna news agency reported.

The ruler also asked outgoing Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah and other ministers to continue as a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed.

The cabinet resigned last week days after the constitutional court nullified the February legislative election, scrapping the opposition-dominated parliament, and reinstated the previous house.

The court ruling, which was based on the finding that two decrees dissolving the previous parliament and calling for fresh elections were flawed, sparked protests by thousands of Kuwaitis calling for a constitutional monarchy and a full parliamentary system.

Information Minister Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah Al Sabah had said that the cabinet quit in order to give way to a new government to “take the necessary legal and constitutional procedures to implement the... court ruling.”

The outgoing cabinet was formed just over four months ago after February parliamentary poll, in which the opposition scored an impressive victory, achieving a majority.

It was the ninth cabinet to resign in the Opec member since February 2006. Two of the cabinet’s 16 ministers had been forced to quit over the past few weeks under pressure from MPs, while a third minister resigned.

The emir is due to start consultations on Monday, asking Shaikh Jaber or another dignitary to form a new cabinet, with the former widely expected to be his first choice.

Shaikh Jaber had replaced Shaikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, another senior member of the ruling family, who stepped down in November following youth-led street protests over corruption allegations.

Kuwait has been rocked by a series of political crises over the past six years, which have seen nine cabinets resign and parliament dissolved five times.