KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait’s government resigned on Thursday sparking a fresh crisis in an oil-rich Gulf state prone to political volatility, as opposition MPs stepped up calls for a change of prime minister.
The development, unrelated to revolts in the Arab world, marked the sixth cabinet led by Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to resign since he was named five years ago. Three parliaments have been dissolved in the emirate over the same period.
“The Kuwaiti cabinet submitted its resignation today at an extraordinary meeting,” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Rudhan al-Rudhan told the state news agency KUNA. With the opposition calling for a change of premier on the grounds mainly of incompetence, the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, has the sole right under Kuwaiti law to select the prime minister.
Sheikh Sabah must first decide whether to accept the government’s resignation, and then, if so, name Sheikh Nasser or another figure to form a new cabinet. The resignations come after MPs filed petitions to question in parliament three ministers who are senior members of Kuwait’s Al-Sabah ruling family over a variety of allegations including corruption and failure to perform duty.
Liberal MPs Adel al-Saraawi and Marzouk al-Ghanem last week filed to grill Kuwait’s deputy premier for economic affairs, Sheikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah, over allegations of corruption in contracts worth $900 million.
