Kuwaiti's Emir dissolves parliament paving way for elections

The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Sabah, has issued a decree today dissolving the Kuwaiti National Assembly, according to the official state news agency KUNA.

The dissolution sets the stage for an early election. The dissolution was announced after an emergency government meeting. The emir said that because of the circumstances in the region and security challenges, that he had ordered that the 50-member legislature be dissolved. The emir's move comes less than 24 hours after the speaker of the parliament Marzouk al-Ghanem called for new elections in the face of security and economic challenges.

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with the emir having power to appoint the PM who appoints government ministers but compared to most other Gulf Cooperation Council states it is more liberal and the legislature has considerable power. A BBC article claims:Kuwait's parliament has the most powers of any elected body in the Gulf region, but the ruling al-Sabah family has the final word over all key decisions and has dissolved the legislature repeatedly in the past.Kuwait shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As of 2014 it had a population of 4.2 million people but only 1.3 million are Kuwaitis with 2.9 million being expatriates.

The cabinet also resigned after the parliament was dissolved. There has been a dispute between the government and the parliament over price increases in fuel in the country. However, there are also claims of administrative and financial violations. Although no date was set for the new elections, the constitution says that they must take place within two months of the parliament being dissolved. The country faces declining revenues as oil prices have dropped leading to the government to cut back on the many subsidies enjoyed by Kuwaiti residents. This has stirred a popular backlash. Kuwait is a major oil producer.

Recently Kuwait has had attacks by the Islamic State(IS). On October 8 an Egyptian IS supporter drove a garbage truck loaded with explosives into a truck carrying five U.S. soldiers but the attack ended up just wounding the attacker. However in 2015 IS carried out a suicide bombing of a Shia mosque that killed 27 and wounded scores more.

Kuwait parliament dissolved by Emir

Emir Sheik Al-Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait, issuued a decree dissolving the 2009 National Assembly for the second time in less than four months. The assembly was dissolved in December 2011, after protests and allegations of corruption against some members.

Corruption charges were leveled against at least 13 members of the 50 seat assembly. The protests also led to the resignation of the former prime minister and the appointment of the present premier Sheik Jaber Al-Sabah.

General elections were held on February 2 this year. The opposition scored a big victory winning 35 seats and control of the assembly led by Islamist factions. Conveniently, the Constitutional Court on June 20 nullified the polls and dissolved the Assembly on the grounds that the decree that dissolved the 2009 Assembly and asked for a new vote was flawed. The court also revived the 2009 Assembly which was dominated by pro-government members.

The revived Assembly failed to meet because both the opposition and the pro-government MP's boycotted meetings. The latter, sensed that the government was going to dissolve the Assembly and call new elections. The Assembly had been invited to convene on July 31 and August 7. Opposition groups were pressing for a quick dissolution, so elections could take place.

The government took its time. It is worried that new elections will again see the opposition win a majority in the Assembly. The government did not issue a decree yet setting out the date of new elections. Elections must be held within two months.

The opposition is concerned that the government will issue another decree amending the electoral constitutency law so the opposition will not win a majority. The opposition is demanding that the election be held under existing law. The existing law was confirmed by the Constitution Court on September 25. The opposition fears that no date for the election was given in order to give the government time to change the electoral laws before the election.

Kuwait has had numerous political crises since 2006. From 2006 until the present the government has resigned nine times. Should the present government try to amend the electoral laws to deprive the opposition of a majority, there is bound to be trouble in the oil-rich state, that is a close ally of the United States.

Kuwaitis protest dissolution of parliament

The Constitutional Court declared February elections in Kuwait illegal. The opposition won 34 of 50 seats in those elections. The court re-instated the previous pro-government parliament. The newly elected parliament dominated by oppoition members had been a pain in the royal posterior.
The demonstrators swarmed into Kuwait City Erada square chanting"we will not surrender" Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah ordered the parliament's dissolution and early elections. There are claims of corruption within the government including bribes paid to pro-government MPs.
Compared to some other Gulf sheikhdoms the Kuwaiti parliament has considerable powers and members often criticize the ruling family. However, the Sabahs still control key government posts. Even though the opposition won over half the seats in parliament they were not given an equal number of posts in the cabinet.
Parlaiament kept calling government ministers for questioning. The emir suspended parliament for a month to avoid a political crisis. Now the constitutional court had solved his immediate problem but the crisis remains. For more see this article.