Manama: Kuwait's government will not submit its resignation to the Emir and will continue to perform its duties, officials have said.
The denial was made after Kuwait became awash with rumours on Tuesday that the government, under intense pressure from opposition lawmakers to leave, has decided to quit after the resignation of Shaikh Mohammad Al Sabah, the foreign minister, was officially accepted.
No official reason was given by Kuwait for the resignation of Shaikh Mohammad who has held his influential post since 2003.
According to Al Rai daily, speculation was rife among lawmakers about the reasons for Shaikh Mohammad's resignation.
Some MPs said that the minister felt that he would not benefit from the government's protection in case he faced a grilling by MPs over an alleged questionable transfer of money by the foreign ministry abroad.
Other MPs said that he was not pleased with the way the government was handling alleged deposits of political money into the account of some lawmakers.
For other MPs, the minister was upset that senior officials within the foreign ministry transferred money abroad without informing him Shaikh Mohammad is the second ruling family member to resign from the government.
Deputy premier Shaikh Ahmad Fahad Al Sabah left after he felt he did not have the support he had expected from the government. Ali Al Rashed, the state minister for cabinet affairs and spokesman for the government, has been appointed as a caretaker. Al Rai daily speculated that Shaikh Subah Al Khalid would most likely succeed Shaikh Mohammad.
According to Kuwaiti daily Al Anba, several ministerial nominations will be made soon in an indication that the government will not resign. Ahmad Al Mulaifi, the recently-appointed education minister who has been widely tipped to resign, denied new allegations that he was leaving his post.
The difficult political situation and the standoff between the parliament and the government is set to go through new challenges after lawmaker Naji Abdul Hadi said that nine motions to grill ministers will be submitted when the parliament resumes its sessions.
Al Anba, quoting sources it did not name, said that MP Hassan Jawhaer and MP Naji Abdul Hadi were planning to grill Shaikh Ahmad Al Humood, the interior minister.
A plan to grill the prime minister over the alleged deposits of huge amounts of money into the banking accounts of 14 lawmakers has been postponed to next week following the resignation of the foreign minister, the daily said.
