The Kuwaiti government has resigned over a showdown with the parliament.
This is the second political crisis this year, after Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh ‘Sabah Al-Ahmad A-‘Sabah dissolved the parliament in March and called for new elections.
There are conflicting reports as to whether the current crisis will lead to the disbanding of the parliament.
If this does emerge, it would be the third time that the National Assembly, Kuwait’s parliament, would be disbanded since May 2006. However, parliament speaker Jasim Al-Khurafi assured that the parliament would remain intact.
Since his appointment as prime minister in February 2006, Sheikh Na’sir Muhammad Al-Ahmad A-‘Sabah has formed four governments, resigned four times and conducted two major reshuffles.
The government quit to protest a parliamentary attempt to question the prime minister over the visit of an Iranian Shi’ite cleric.
The parliament was due to set a date to question the prime minister when cabinet ministers walked out on Tuesday.
Islamists lawmakers say the prime minister allowed a prominent Iranian Shi’ite cleric to enter Kuwait despite a legal ban. They are also accusing the government of corruption and squandering of public funds.
Traditionally, the government is formed by the prime minister and approved by the emir.
The National Assembly has 50 members, who are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.
May’s elections were based on five major districts instead of 25 small districts, so all the MPs would be voted in by a major constituency. Analysts at the time said this would strengthen the parliament, and as a result, the government would also be more secure.
But Dr. Shamlan Al-‘Issa, a political scientist at Kuwait University says the new crisis proves that thinking was incorrect.
Most of the lawmakers are either from tribal or religiously affiliated political parties, Al-‘Issa said.
The solution to this might be to either create 50 constituencies or make the whole of Kuwait one voting area, Al-‘Issa said.
“People are still voting according to their affiliation, whether it’s tribal, religious or sectarian,” he told The Media Line.
Another problem is that the government has not defined a vision for Kuwait.
“They have to decide if it should be a secular state, a liberal state or a fundamental state. Until now, they’re mixing them all together and it doesn’t work that way,” Al-‘Issa said. “Their vision isn’t clear.”