Kuwait government resigns en masse

Just one month after the formation of the government, Kuwaiti ministers resigned en masse on Tuesday due to disputes between the executive and parliament, according to the Kuwait state news agency.  

Deputy Prime Minister Hamas Jaber al-Ali al-Sabah was responsible for presenting the resignation of the cabinet members to Prime Minister Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah. In November 2019 the previous cabinet resigned amid allegations of corruption and internal strife, making it the second government to fall in the country in less than two years.  

In the last legislative elections in December, the opposition made significant progress, winning almost half of the 50 seats. It was the first vote since the new emir took power in September. 

The resignation of the government follows the announcement made by 38 members of parliament to support a request for an inquiry against the prime minister, whom they accuse of having violated the Constitution by forming his government, submitted on January 5 at the first ordinary session of the National Assembly. In addition, some of the new parliamentarians did not welcome the re-election of Marzouq al-Ghanim, who belongs to an elite family of merchants, as president of the Assembly, a position he has held since 2013. Al-Ghanim is accused of being part of the country's system of patronage and corruption.  

During the interrogation of Prime Minister Al-Sabah, parliamentarians accused him of incorporating "provocative and unqualified members" into the cabinet. They also protested the refusal of the Interior Minister and Justice Minister to support the draft law on stateless persons that Parliament was expected to pass. 

The tensions boiled over in last week’s parliamentary session, with footage showing shouting matches and physical brawls in the chamber. Parliamentary security forces tried to restrain them amidst shouting and fighting.  

“The lawmakers are trying to bring reforms, but they feel their hands are tied because the government keeps bringing in the same old faces,” said Mohammed al-Yousef, an independent Kuwaiti political analyst.

Kuwait was the first Gulf country to establish a parliament in 1963. The Assembly has some power of scrutiny over the Executive and is the most powerful in the region. The current parliament was elected in December and, for the first time in its history, a woman will be a parliamentarian.  

For the last ten years there has been constant confrontation between the National Assembly and the Government, in the hands of the ruling family, which has led on several occasions to the dissolution of the Legislative and the Executive.  

Like most of the Gulf countries, Kuwait's economy and budget are highly dependent on oil and are therefore affected by its low prices, to which must be added the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. All this has triggered a severe liquidity crisis which the outgoing government hoped to solve with a new debt law, which has finally been paralysed by the circumstances.  

The frequent political instability has diminished public confidence in the institutions and continues to worsen the country's worst economic crisis in decades. Last year, the rating agency Moody's downgraded the country's rating for the first time in history owing to the hole in the country's finances even though it has an expenditure ceiling, set by Parliament, of $33 billion. Most parliamentarians have repeatedly refused to raise the spending ceiling for fear that the money will be looted through corruption.

The prime minister must now submit the resignations to the emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is expected to accept them.   
However, it is now feared that the emir, apart from accepting the government's resignation, will decide to dissolve Parliament and force a second election just a few months after it is formed. There are precedents in Kuwait's history, as the country's unusual political system, in which the emir chooses the government and parliament is elected by popular vote, gives rise to this type of dispute. Parliament has the power to make laws and to question ministers, but it is the emir who has ultimate authority and members of the ruling family who hold senior positions. Analysts say it is the cause of the country's economic and social progress being hampered.