Manama: Controversial calls for early parliamentary elections and the dissolution of the current parliament are causing clashes in Kuwait.
Conservative politician Waleed Al Tabtabai, on Monday, called for the current parliament to end and new elections to be held.
"We will certainly witness a catastrophe should the current parliament remain," Al Tabtabai said. "We need to have new blood that will move forward with development plans, instead of the current stage drama. I pray to God that this parliament will have a short life span," he added, speaking at a forum in which he criticised more than 30 MPs for their close ties with the government.
His calls were supported by MP Muslim Al Barrak. However, the calls sparked furious reactions from most MPs.
"We are sorry that such calls are uttered by lawmakers elected to represent the nation, and we hope that it is only a personal view. People should be civil enough to accept different ideas and views and not to impose theirs’ on those who differ with them," MP Salwa Al Jassar said.
"The call to dissolve the parliament is a form of unwarranted and illogical escalation that will serve the political agendas of the opposition blocs, not the nation. The current parliament is keen on achievements and has positive working relations with the government," Al Jassar added.
Despite the disruption caused by the calls, several laws have been passed recently. "If there is a lawmaker who is not happy with this development, he should simply resign to have his peace of mind. His constituents will then deal with him. To me, when a lawmaker says that he wants the parliament to be dissolved, he in fact refusing to work and is bored with political action."
However, MP Ali Al Rashed, said the MPs who want the parliament to be dissolved does not believe in democracy. "It is obvious that some lawmakers are not keen on democracy and want to put an end to the parliament."
Hussain Al Gallaf attributed the call to the failure of politicians to get laws passed. "They claim with great fanfare that everything is fine whenever they have their way, but promptly allege there's a catastrophe when they cannot convince others," he said. "Maybe they should devote their time to shishas and tents and leave politics for the experts."
This is not the first time it has been suggested that the parliament is dissolved in Kuwait.
Political tension has forced the dissolution of the cabinet three times since May 2006 and the formation of five new cabinets over the same period.
