Kuwait government resigns amid struggle with assembly

Kuwait's government resigned on Monday amid a power struggle with the Arab Gulf country's assembly less than four months after parliamentary elections delivered a mandate for change.

The state-run KUNA news agency confirmed the resignation, which had earlier been reported by local media, without providing further details. It's the fifth time a Kuwaiti government has resigned in just over two years.

According to Al Qabas newspaper, the decision was taken after the government refused to make any commitments to Kuwaiti National Assembly regarding popular laws.

Moreover, the government has upheld its position to return the reports of the Finance Committee to the committees without any obligations, and has withdrawn the two interpellations that were scheduled to be addressed to the Minister of Finance Abdul Wahhab Al Rashid and the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Barak Al Shaitan during Tuesday's session.

This marks Kuwait’s fifth collective government resignation in the two years.
Kuwait has the freest and most active assembly in the Persian Gulf, but political power is still concentrated in the hands of the ruling Al Sabah family, which appoints the prime minister and Cabinet, and can dissolve the assembly at any time.

In September, voters sent conservative Islamist figures and two women to the assembly in the second election in less than two years. The election results were seen as a mandate for change amid a prolonged period of gridlock between the Cabinet and the 50-member assembly.

Kuwait’s Islamist opposition accuses the government of graft and mismanagement, frequently grilling ministers over their involvement in the misallocation of public funds.

The wrangling has prevented the assembly from passing basic economic reforms, including a public debt law that would allow the government to borrow money, leading to the depletion of its general reserve fund despite its vast oil wealth.