Manama: Kuwait’s Information Minister and State Minister for Youth Affairs Shaikh Salman Al Humood on Monday handed his resignation, according to Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas.
The resignation was expected as a way to help defuse the tension that threatened to harm the relations between the parliament keen on a no-confidence vote in the minister and the government determined to defend one of its members.
The parliament was scheduled to carry on February 8 a no-confidence vote in Shaikh Salman following his marathon 10-hour quizzing over alleged administrative and financial irregularities in the two portfolios he was holding as well as causing a 15-month international ban on sports. Shaikh Salman categorically rejected the charges.
Three lawmakers Waleed Al Tabtabai, Al Humaidi Al Subaie and Abdul Wahab Al Babtain questioned the minister as they accused him of not taking the steps that would have helped lift the international ban which has already deprived the northern Arabian Gulf state from participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the qualification matches for the 2018 World Cup.
The government initially stood firm behind the minister, especially that the no-confidence motion needed the support of 25 lawmakers in the 50-member parliament.
However, as the number of lawmakers who publicly supported the vote against him grew to 30 and possibly more, the options for the government were narrowed down to a mass-resignation or to let Shaikh Salman quit the cabinet.
