Kuwait’s premier on Thursday comfortably survived a parliament vote of confidence but the opposition called on him to step down and filed a new motion to grill him, plunging the OPEC member into yet another crisis.
Minutes after defeating the third bid against him, Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah extended an offer of cooperation to the opposition, which responded by calling on him to resign. Only 18 MPs voted for the motion, seven votes short of the required number to unseat Sheikh Nasser, a senior member of the Al-Sabah ruling family, speaker Jassem al-Khorafi said after a secret session.
Twenty-five MPs voted in support of the prime minister and six lawmakers abstained in the 50-member house. One seat is held by a minister who is not allowed to take part in such votes. The “non-cooperation” motion was filed by the Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition in a bid to oust Sheikh Nasser over allegations he boosted ties with Shiite Iran rather than Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states.
During the grilling on June 14, the opposition accused the prime minister of undermining national security by developing ties with Tehran which they charged of posing a real danger against Kuwait and its Gulf Arab neighbours. Sheikh Nasser has denied the allegations, but opposition MPs demanded his resignation.
