Kuwait's Islamists heading for a rift

The resignation of the Minister of Justice Ahmad Baquer and the scathing attack of the government by the Salaf Islamic Alliance that followed are leading to a rift within the group, sources close to the Islamist movement have said.

The division comes over the call for moderation by one group while the other wishes an immediate disengagement of the minister from the government.

The country is seeing signs of an inevitable cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Baquer last Monday. The Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad is scheduled to meet a number of MPs and ministers, chief among them the Minister of Justice who has declined so far to comment on his resignation and is reportedly said to have kept the door open for a compromise to resolve the situation.

A statement by the leader of the Salaf Islamic Alliance confirmed the resignation of the minister and said that he will not withdraw his resignation and neither will the alliance nominate a new candidate to the Cabinet.

Ahmad Baquer is the only Member of Parliament in the cabinet as required by Kuwait's constitution.

The statement by Khalid Sultan Al Eisa, the strongest attack on the government yet, branded the government as "Liberal" and "anti- reformist".

"This government is not a government of reforms because it aborted a bill to amend the electoral constituencies……

"Baquer is a man who wants reforms and believed that the constituencies which would have altered the composition of the National Assembly, as some of its members have won through vote buying and bribery", Eisa's statement said.

The justice minister also in a written statement to the press, however, said that he had not authorised Al Eisa to speak on his behalf and thanked the prime minister for his trust. He also reiterated his high esteem for all the members of the cabinet.

"I am capable of expressing my own opinion. I am not aware of what he has said…. It is his own opinion," the minister said.

The prime minister's meetings today will provide a clear picture of a possible new line up of ministers but no final decision will be taken until the Emir Jaber Al Ahmad returns to the country after his routine medical check in New York.

Some sections of the government are calling on the leadership to look into the motives behind Baquer's resignation.

Some are even looking for an end to what is described as a partnership between the government and the Salaf Movement.

Islamists on the other hand have said that the trust between the government and Islamist groups has been eroded and the relationship might become prickly in the near future.

They also believe that the Islamic Constitutional Movement is expected to capitalise by demanding that one of their members replace the justice minister.