Kuwait Cabinet Resigns, Again
Kuwait�s cabinet submitted its resignation to the Amir, Shaikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah,on 25 June. This is the latest move in a struggle between the ruling al-Sabah family and the Islamist-dominated elected parliament, which has held up development of the country�s energy industry.
The government�s resignation quickly followed a court ruling that annulled the February parliamentary election, which had given the Islamist-led opposition a majority (MEES, 25 June). The court ordered that the previous pro-government parliament should be reinstated. The opposition has called for Kuwaitis to take to the streets to prevent the reconvening of this government.
The cabinet � which had taken its oath of office in front of the dissolved parliament � resigned �in order to complete all the constitutional procedures for implementing the constitutional court decision,� Minister of Information Shaikh Muhammad al-Mubarak al-Sabah said.
The next step � if the ruler accepts the government�s resignation � will be to appoint a prime minister who would form a new cabinet. If Minister of Oil Hani Husain is reappointed he would be free to implement his strategic policies, including building the planned 615,000 b/d al-Zour refinery, without the threat of a parliamentary grilling hanging over him. It is not clear if a new government would continue the investigation launched by the outgoing one into the $17.4bn K-Dow petrochemical plant deal with Dow Chemical. Its cancellation triggered an international court ruling that state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation�s (KPC�s) subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), has to pay Dow $2.16bn. Meanwhile, a parliamentary probe into the service contract between Shell and KPC�s upstream division Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) will continue.
Copyright MEES 2012.
