Manama: Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah on Tuesday dissolved the parliament.
The Emiri decree cited “the stalling of achievements and threats to the higher interests of the nation” as the reasons to “go back to the nation to choose its representatives in order to overcome the existing obstacles and achieve national interests”.
The decision was announced a short time after an emergency cabinet meeting discussed the decree to dissolve the parliament.
The parliament can be dissolved only by a decree from the Emir and, under Kuwait’s constitution, general elections must be held within 60 day. Failure to elect a new parliament within the two-month limit allows the outgoing lawmakers to regain their seats.
The opposition has been campaigning for dissollution of the parliament and for the resignation of the government, arguing it was the only way out of a political and constitutional crisis that pitted lawmakers, mainly Islamists, with Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammad the prime minister and his government.
The opposition claimed that the government could not possibly address Kuwait’s growing national and international issues and called for a change of the ministers.
The parliament needed to be dissolved after some lawmakers failed to question attitudes and decisions by the government, the opposition said.
The situation was compounded following reports that at least 18 MPs had allegedly received illegal funds in their bank accounts to influence their voting.
Although an investigation was launched by the public prosecutor after banks referred suspicious accounts to the central bank, the opposition insisted that the deposits, up to $300 million according to some MPs, were illegal and were meant to win the support of the lawmakers in crucial voting processes.
Shaikh Nasser, 71, stepped down last week and the Emir appointed Shaikh Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah, the outgoing defence minister, as the new premier.
The new government will oversee the elections before it resigns and a new one is formed.
