Timeline: Kuwait parliament
Here is a look at Kuwait since Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, took over in 2006 as the country’s ruler.
2006
June: Powerful Islamist and reformist candidates sweep Kuwait’s elections but women fail to win a single seat in their first run for parliament.
2007
March: The government resigns in a move aimed at thwarting a no-confidence motion against the health minister. The new cabinet includes two women.
June: Oil Minister Shaikh Ali resigns amid a political standoff between the government and parliament.
2008
March: The emir dissolves parliament and sets an election for May after a political crisis that has delayed economic reforms and forced the government to resign.
2009
May: Three women MPs, Kuwait’s first, win seats in parliamentary elections.
October: Constitutional Court rules women can obtain passports without the consent of their husbands.
In another ruling, it decides women MPs are not required to wear an Islamic head cover.
December: Prime Minister survives an attempt by the opposition to remove him over corruption allegations.
2010
December: MPs injured as police clash with demonstrators protesting against alleged government plot to change constitution.
2011
March: Hundreds of young people demonstrate for reform, inspired by a wave of protests across the Arab world.
December: The emir calls early elections, nearly two weeks after he dissolved the chamber in a power struggle. The decision follows the resignation of the government led by Shaikh Nasser. Shaikh Nasser’s departure was precipitated when opposition lawmakers and protesters stormed parliament demanding his removal over allegations of high-level corruption and mismanagement. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
2012
February: Snap parliamentary election is held and the Islamist-led opposition take control of parliament, making sweeping gains on a wave of public anger over corruption and political deadlock. The emir asks outgoing prime minister Shaikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah to form a new cabinet on February 6.
June: Kuwait’s highest court annuls the election results and reinstates the previous assembly, elected in 2009. Two days earlier the emir had suspended parliament.
October: The emir dissolves parliament, his fifth such move in six years. A week later five people are arrested after thousands rally against possible changes to the election law and a prominent opposition figure breaks a taboo by appearing to directly criticise the emir.
The emir orders changes to the electoral system, reducing the number of votes per citizen in parliamentary elections to one from four, angering the opposition, which calls for an election boycott.
Kuwait is rocked by some of its worst unrest in recent history as a march by tens of thousands of people against the new voting rules is dispersed by tear gas, stun grenades and baton charges.
November: Police rout thousands of protesters with tear gas after they try to march on a prison where an opposition figure is jailed on charges of insulting the emir. Three days later, police tear-gas opposition-led protest of thousands on the edge of Kuwait city. The emir promises to stand firm and says the change to the voting law was within his constitutional powers.
Tens of thousands of Kuwaitis pack a square opposite parliament in a rally over the voting rules. It ends peacefully.
December: Turnout is low as Kuwaitis vote in a parliamentary election held under new polling rules. A day earlier thousands marched to call on voters to boycott the election in protest at the rule change, which they said would skew the outcome in favour of pro-government candidates.
2013
June 16: Constitutional Court scrapped December 2012 parliamentary election which was boycotted by the opposition but approved the controversial electoral law that sparked the boycott. The court, whose rulings are final, called for a fresh election to replace the current parliament.
