The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah, asked outgoing Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al Mubarak al-Sabah to form a new government, reported Thursday the official news agency Kuna. Sheikh Jaber must now designate the 15 members of his government before holding new elections, which analysts said could take place after the month of Ramadan (begins on July 19.)
The former government had submitted its resignation in late June after the Constitutional Court decided to invalidate the results of the parliamentary elections held in February and restore the pro-government assembly dissolved in December 2011. Note that the latest parliament was led by the Islamist opposition.
In recent years, Kuwait has been facing power struggles and political instability, attributed to internal rifts within the family of Al-Sabah who has reigned the emirate for over 250 years.
Thousands of Kuwaitis rallied to protest against the decision of Court and demanded a constitutional monarchy. Now, the new cabinet should recommend to the emir to dissolve the Parliament and call for re election to try to resolve the political crisis.
The last government was formed only four months ago, after the parliamentary elections in February.
OPEC member Kuwait was the first Gulf monarchy to have an elected parliament. However, since 2006 the government resigned nine times and Parliament has been dissolved five times.
