Kuwait’s Parliament Dissolved Again by Royal Decree

Kuwait’s parliament was dissolved by royal decree once again on Monday, the state news agency reported. The parliament had been reinstated in March by a Constitutional Court decision after having been dissolved last year.

The decree was presented to Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah by the cabinet on Monday and was signed by him later that day.

The 2022 dissolution of parliament came in response to a conflict between the lawmaking body and the ruling Al-Sabah family, which appoints the prime minister and the cabinet. The conflict centered on proposed fiscal reforms meant to make Kuwait less reliant on oil revenue.

Parliamentary elections were held in 2022, but the Constitutional Court declared that there had been discrepancies in the dissolution decree and reinstated the previous parliament.

When speaking last month about the plan to dissolve the parliament, the crown prince said that electing a new parliament reflected “the will of the people” and that the country would simultaneously undergo “some legal and political reforms to take the country to a new phase of discipline and legal reference.”

Shortly after the parliament was officially dissolved, Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq al-Ghanim posted on Twitter that he plans to run again in the next elections.

بعد التوكل على الله الذي هو حسبي، وتجسيدا لمبدأ العودة إلى الأمة لتقول كلمتها كما طالبت بذلك مرارا، أعلن عن ترشحي للانتخابات عن الدائرة الثانية ، سائلا المولى عز و جل التوفيق والسداد

— مرزوق الغانم (@MarzouqAlghanim) May 1, 2023