Kuwaiti government calls for election in September amid political feud
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Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah issues a decree calling on voters to elect a new 50-seat assembly.
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The Kuwaiti government (Reuters)
The Kuwaiti government on Sunday called for a legislative election on September 29, the state news agency said, two months after parliament was dissolved amid simmering political tensions.
Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah issued a decree calling on voters to elect a new 50-seat assembly, KUNA reported.
The only Gulf state with a fully elected legislature and the key oil producer has been hit by regular feuding between the ruling Al-Sabah family and the assembly.
The current government was formed at the start of August after the previous cabinet resigned in April, just three months after being sworn in.
That came amid growing disputes between that cabinet and opposition MPs, who had won nearly half the seats in the legislature during the previous election in December 2020.
The opposition has regularly accused ministers from the royal family of mismanagement and corruption.
Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dissolved the assembly in June after opposition lawmakers staged an eight-day strike in the legislature.
He also dissolved the parliament earlier this month, saying that domestic politics were being "torn by disagreement and personal interests," following a protest held by more than a dozen MPs inside parliament pressing Al-Sabah to appoint a new government.
It is noteworthy that the standoff has delayed the approval of a state budget for the fiscal year 2022/2023, which has to be voted on before November, and other economic reforms.
An official decree, reported by the KUNA news agency, said nominations were now open for candidates to register ahead of the September vote.
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