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| Arabia |
| Kuwait parliament could be suspended for two years |
| 2009-03-18 |
| KUWAIT CITY - The Kuwaiti parliament could be suspended for up to two years after the Gulf state's cabinet resigned over a political dispute with MPs, local newspapers reported on Tuesday. Quoting ‘well-informed sources,’ Al-Qabas newspaper said the most likely scenario to resolve political crises that have rocked the oil-rich emirate for the past three years will be to suspend parliament. Al-Siyassah said the move could last up to two years and be accompanied by a number of measures to "put the Kuwaiti house in order." A suspension would see Amir of Kuwait, His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah dissolve the 50-seat assembly but not call for new elections within 60 days as required by the constitution. Since embracing parliamentary democracy in 1962, the Kuwaiti assembly has been suspended twice -- in 1976 for five years and then in 1986 for six years -- because of strained relations between the government and MPs. Parliament has also been dissolved and fresh election held on three occasions since 1999, the last in March 2008. The Kuwaiti ruler on Monday accepted the government's resignation and asked it to run the country's urgent matters is until a new government was formed. Parliamentary sources told AFP that the emir could opt to change the prime minister or dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections. The resignation came after five Islamist MPs filed three requests to grill Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir's nephew, over allegations of mismangement, breach of the constitution and misuse of public funds. Since becoming prime minister for the first time in 2006, Sheikh Nasser has resigned five times due to political disputes with MPs. |
| Posted by:Steve White |