Kuwait is going to hold new elections in the coming months. The crown prince announced that the parliament will be dissolved and new elections will be held because of a recent Constitutional Court ruling. Kuwait is an OPEC member and has been having problems between the government and elected parliament, which has made it hard to make fiscal reforms.
The parliament was dissolved last year to try and end the fighting, and early elections were held in September. However, the opposition made gains and the Constitutional Court annulled the polls in March and restored the previous assembly. The crown prince, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, said that new elections are needed to fulfill the “will of the people” and take the country to a new phase of discipline and legal reference.
Kuwait does not allow political parties but its legislature has more influence than similar bodies in other Gulf monarchies. The country’s political stability has traditionally depended on cooperation between government and parliament. Infighting and gridlock have hurt investment and reforms aimed at reducing Kuwait’s reliance on oil revenues.
The prime minister, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah, submitted his government’s resignation in January due to friction with the parliament elected last year. He was renamed premier in March and a new cabinet was announced this month. Relations between the prime minister and the speaker of the reinstated parliament elected in 2020 have been tense.
