Kuwaiti Emir Accepts Cabinet Resignations

On Monday, the ruler of Kuwait accepted the resignation of the Cabinet, asking his prime minister to deal with “urgent matters” until a new government is in place.

The Emir – Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah – may appoint a new prime minister or dissolve parliament but has few options to resolve an underlying standoff between Islamist deputies and the pro-Western government.

He also has the chance to decide on a non-parliamentary rule for two years, and even dissolving the national assembly. Either way, the Emir is expected to take action soon.

“The signals indicate a dissolution. We’re awaiting the decision,” liberal MP Mohammad al-Abdul Jader told reporters.

Another deputy, Mohammad al-Sager, said a full suspension of parliament was widely expected after the country lurched from one crisis to another in recent years.

“There is a lot of talk in parliament corridors…that there is an inclination toward an unconstitutional dissolution but we hope this is not true,” he said, referring to a suspension.

With parties banned, parliamentary work is often chaotic and unproductive with MPs flooding the floor with motions without coordination.

Many confrontations have occurred between the government and MPs since the election of the country’s first parliament in 1963. Sheikh Sabah’s predecessors suspended the assembly for six years beginning in 1986 and five years in 1976.