KUWAIT: Kuwait is all set to conduct its parliamentary election on September 29, according to state news agency KUNA, after the Gulf’s Crown Prince moved to dissolve parliament to mediate a political standoff between the government and the elected legislature.
Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who has assumed most of the ruling emir’s duties and authority, issued a decree urging voters to elect a new 50-seat assembly on September 29, KUNA reported. The ministerial decree was published in the official gazette on Sunday.
The decree also stated that new districts will be added to the electoral constituencies.
The Crown Prince dissolved parliament earlier this month stating facts that domestic politics were being ruined and “torn by disagreement and personal interests” to the detriment of the US-allied nation and OPEC oil producer.
He issued the decree after the mounting pressure from protests held by more than a dozen MPs inside parliament to appoint a new government.
The conflict with the cabinet has delayed the approval of an important state budget for the fiscal year 2022/2023 and other economic reforms. The budget, which has to be voted on before November, had set spending at 23.65 billion dinars ($77.2 billion) compared with 23.48 billion for the 2021/2022 budget.
Kuwait’s political stability has traditionally depended on cooperation between the government and parliament, the Gulf region’s most active legislature. Kuwait bans political parties but has given its legislature more influence than in other Gulf monarchies.
Stalemates, debates and disagreements between Kuwait’s government and parliament have often led to cabinet reshuffles and dissolutions of the legislature over the decades, adversely affecting investment and reforms. The last time parliament was dissolved was in 2016.
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