Kuwait's government resigns en bloc to resolve institutional deadlock

Kuwait's government resigned en bloc on Monday, state news agency KUNA reported. The prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Jalid Al-Sabah, presented his resignation to Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Yaber Al-Sabah at the Royal Palace in the face of the persistent institutional blockade imposed by the legislature. This request for resignation has not yet received an official response from the emir but, if accepted, would be the second resignation submitted by an executive headed by Al-Jalid so far this year.

Kuwait is going through a period of political instability caused by a rift between the government and the National Assembly. The previous government resigned from office in January, a month after it was formed, and the new cabinet was sworn in in March by a decree of the emir, but failed to improve its performance in parliament. Meanwhile, Sheikh Sabah Al-Jalid Al-Sabah has been delaying his presence at the head of the government since 2019.

The legislative elections held on 5 December benefited Islamist candidacies and blocked the access of the 30 women who aspired to a seat in the Assembly. A factor that increased the parliament's autonomy without even having a proper party base, as the opposition controls 24 of the 50 seats, a position that allows it to paralyse measures promoted by the executive branch. As a result, the government has proved incapable of pushing through its proposals.

Parliament is also demanding the appearance of several ministers to explain the management of COVID-19 and various cases of corruption that have surrounded the leadership of the government. In particular, the House is seeking to question the chief executive, Sabah Al-Khalid, but in March the prime minister passed a constitutionally dubious motion that postpones his accountability before the House until the end of 2022.

The letter of resignation presented by Al-Jalid himself is based on the objective of opening a national dialogue to facilitate a restructuring of the government. The aim is to clean up the country's image in order to iron out differences with the opposition and approve the measures the country needs to recover its economy after a year marked by the record drop in oil prices. The Kuwaiti treasury, dependent on 'black gold' and with serious problems to diversify its commercial activities, has been hit by this factor.

The government's resignation came hours after the emir approved an amnesty decree. The head of state invoked Article 75 of the Kuwaiti constitution to grant a pardon to a group of 70 political dissidents repressed by the regime. The decision, taken after arduous negotiations between the emir, senior government officials, the speaker of the National Assembly and three opposition MPs, seeks to break a decade-long political deadlock in Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti regime's senior officials are thus responding to a situation that could lead to the outbreak of a new political crisis similar to the one experienced in 2012, when the Gulf state witnessed massive demonstrations and two elections. A path that the royal family wants to avoid at all costs, and which would generate instability that could infect the entire region. That year, the entry of Islamist and tribal leaders into parliament pushed the emir to dissolve the House. 

For this reason, the resignation of the government and the granting of the pardon are complementary measures that would seek to ease dialogue with the opposition. Among those pardoned are a dozen activists and lawmakers, who left the country for Turkey after being convicted of storming the National Assembly building during an anti-corruption protest in 2011. The Gulf country's political turbulence is part of the Arab Spring.

However, Kuwait is characterised as one of the least repressive of the Gulf states. And it is by far one of the countries that grants the most prerogatives to civil society in the region, although it is hostile to the ideas of freedom of expression and free association. Indeed, since the early 20th century, Kuwait has had bodies that functioned in a similar way to a parliament. Thus, since its final establishment in 1992, the dissolution of the Assembly has always been followed by new elections.

In this sense, the Kuwaiti parliament has the power to pass and block laws, question ministers and submit votes of no confidence against senior government officials. And although the constitution does not allow for political parties, the system is seen by some citizens as a marked improvement over the political structures that govern their neighbours. This is despite the fact that Kuwait's power structure is flawed. Perhaps the most important of these is the antagonism between institutions.

Kuwait is not a de jure absolutist monarchy, but with full de facto powers for the monarch. Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah exercises power with few restrictions. The current emir, who succeeded his late brother in September 2020, is a discreet figure. He twice held the Interior Ministry and served as head of the defence portfolio at the time of Saddam Hussein's invasion in the early 1990s. Like most of the Kuwaiti royal family, he left the country during the Iraqi offensive. His bureaucratic career has been low-profile, and his plenipotentiary status could be affected by the regime's pressing erosion.