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Kuwait government ministers resign en masse

January 12, 2021

Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid al-Sabah must submit his government's resignation to Kuwait's ruler, Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, after many of his ministers quit their posts.

https://p.dw.com/p/3npIv
Kuwait's Emir Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah attends a parliament session in Kuwait City
Kuwait's Emir Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah attends a parliament session in Kuwait CityImage: Stephanie McGehee/REUTERS

Kuwait government ministers tendered their resignations en masse to Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid on Tuesday, the Ministry of Information announced on Twitter. 

The move came after lawmakers submitted a motion in Parliament, asking to question the premier, local media reported.

Sheikh Sabah must now submit his government's resignation to the OPEC member state's ruler, Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, for approval.

The official Kuna news agency reported that the prime minister held a meeting with Defense Minister Hamad Jaber Al Sabah and other ministers of the government on Tuesday. The defense minister submitted the resignation of all the ministers and "put it at his disposal."

Tension with parliament

Kuna says the move came "in light of the ongoing developments in the relations between the government and Parliament, known as the National Assembly, and what the national interest dictates."

The resignation of the cabinet had been expected after more than 30 other MPs supported the request to question the prime minister on issues including forming a cabinet "not reflective" of poll results and allegations of government "interference" in electing the Speaker and members of parliamentary committees, according to Reuters news agency.

"The lawmakers are trying to bring reforms, but they feel their hands are tied because the government keeps bringing in the same old
faces,'' Mohammed al-Yousef, an independent Kuwaiti political analyst, told The Associated Press. "The system is designed to create deadlock."

The motion to question Sheikh Sabah, who has been premier since late 2019, was submitted by three MPs on January 5 in the first regular session of the National Assembly.

The country is also grappling with an acute economic crisis, which has posed a challenge to the new emir.

Kuwait was the first country in the Gulf region to establish an all-male Parliament in 1963. The current Parliament was elected in December. The actual power remains in the hands of the ruling al-Sabah family and the emir, who appoints the government.

shs/rt (Reuters, dpa)