The Times Report
On Wednesday, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Hamad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, who tendered the resignation of his government.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the cabinet ministers headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, met at the Seif Palace and placed their resignations at the disposal of the prime minister. The defense minister said this was in response to “current developments regarding the relation between the National Assembly and the Government, and what was in the best interests of the nation”.
His Highness the Amir is expected to accept the cabinet’s resignation and assign the executive to continue in office to handle urgent matters until the formation of a new government.
The government, which was formed on 14 December, lasted exactly a month. During its 58 years of march along the path of democracy and a parliamentary form of governance, Kuwait has witnessed the formation of 37 governments — only a handful have lasted the full four-year term in office.
But even by these ‘high-churn’ standards, the brevity in office of the 37th government is a record for Kuwait parliamentary life. The only government that survived for less than even 30 days was the one formed in 1964 headed by Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem, which was able to stay in office for only 28 days due to constitutional measures regarding appointment of some ministers.
The resignation of the present cabinet was predicted in light of the submission of a grilling motion against the prime minister by three MPs Bader Al Dahoom, Thamer Al Suwait and Khaled Al Moanes last Tuesday. The National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim who had slated the next-days session for the interpellation motion later cancelled the session as the government announced that it would not be attending.
The present crisis had been brewing since the start of the new legislative term of parliament on 15 December and elections to the posts of National Assembly Speaker, as well as to various parliamentary committees. The general elections on 5 December had resulted in a strong opposition presence in the National Assembly and the bloc had expected their candidate, Bader Al Humaidi, a former minister to win the post of Parliament Speaker.
However, the incumbent Speaker Marzouk Al Ghanim, who had served in the same role since 2013, managed to clinch the post in a tightly contested poll, winning 34 votes against 28 for Al Humaidi. The opposition alleged that victory was snatched from them by the government throwing its weight behind the incumbent and supporting him with the votes of the ministers.
The lawmakers filing the interpellation motion had cited the Speaker’s election as one of the reasons for the grilling. Other reasons cited included the prime minister’s failure to adhere to Article 98 of the Kuwaiti Constitution which states, “upon formation, every Ministry shall submit its program to the National Assembly and the Assembly may express whatever comments it deems appropriate thereon.”
The interpellation also questioned the blatant violation of the provisions of the constitution when forming the government, by choosing ministers in the cabinet that are ‘aggravating’, and for not taking into account the directions of the new parliament, which is dominated by MPs with opposing views.
The executive authority was also to be questioned for attempting to dominate the parliament and its committees through its support for the Assembly Speaker and in the formation of parliamentary supervisory bodies.
The grilling motion filed by the lawmakers comes within an MPs right to file a motion against any minister, including the prime minister. If the motion moves ahead, then a vote of no confidence is taken against the minister being questioned. As per Article 101 of the constitution, ministers are not allowed to take part in the vote. Unofficial counts estimate that around 38 MPs could vote in favor of the motion, which could lead to the downfall of the government. The government’s resignation on Wednesday preempts this.