KUWAIT CITY, Nov 28: HH the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, has accepted the resignation of the Kuwaiti government after an emergency meeting on Monday. HH the Amir further appointed the same, led by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, to serve as caretaker of state affairs until a new Cabinet is formed.

As an attempt to resolve disputes between opposition lawmakers, protesters and the government, HH the Amir may also dissolve the parliament for early elections. The opposition has been demanding Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah step down and the parliament dissolved over allegations of corruption.
The Cabinet had tendered its resignation during an emergency meeting with HH the Amir that discussed the current political scene. Following the meeting, however, Speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi said that he has not been informed of a decision to dissolve the National Assembly.

According to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the prime minister’s resignation letter stated that the Cabinet has been honored to serve the country according to the instructions and guidelines of HH the Amir.
“Your Highness has been a great supporter for fulfilling the duties of the ministerial work throughout this delicate period of time. We have been backed too with sincere cooperation from majority of the brothers, members of the National Assembly,” the letter said.

“However some of the negative practices that some (of the MPs) insisted on maintaining at the expense of public interests and the aspired cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities led to obstructing the national action process, thus the aspirations could not be attained,” it concluded.
The resignation means that Tuesday’s parliament session will be immediately adjourned and all further sessions could be suspended for up to a month until a new government is formed.

The session on Tuesday was scheduled to discuss a grilling request against the prime minister on the multi-million dinar deposit scandal in which 16 pro-government

MPs are said to be involved. MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Faisal Al-Muslim and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari had submitted the request on Nov 15.

Along with the 20-member Opposition Bloc, the 5-member National Action Bloc (NAB) had affirmed they will vote in favor of no-confidence against Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, which was enough to remove him from office.

The opposition accused Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah of failing to take the appropriate measures to uncover the truth behind the multi-million deposit scam. MPs are said to have received $350 million in bribes to sell their votes on crucial issues. The grilling also alleged that the PM ordered the transfer of millions of dollars from public funds into private accounts held by him abroad. The government had adamantly denied all charges.

The news of the Cabinet resignation follows earlier reports that three ministers had tendered in their resignation on Sunday — Minister of Health, Hilal Al-Sayer, Minister of Justice and Social Affairs, Mohammad Al-Afasi and State Minister for Development Abdulwahab Al-Harun.

Opposition MPs reacted coolly to the reports, further demanding a new prime minister and the parliament to be dissolved. They called for the release of arrested protestors and the prosecution of corrupt lawmakers.

MP Khaled Al-Sultan said that if Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah is reappointed the problem would not be solved. He expressed hopes that the new prime minister is trust worthy, unites the people of Kuwait and is honest in his dealings with the parliament.

On his part, MP Mohammed Hayef added the main issue is the multi-million dinar deposit scam in which lawmakers are involved in and should not remain in the assembly. He said the government was unjust by arresting protesters and calling for the lifting of opposition MPs’ immunity while allowing “bribed MPs” to remain free without prosecution.

Hayef further called for the parliament to be dissolved as “it can’t continue with bribed lawmakers” and the release of protestors.

On Nov 16, protesters with a number of opposition MPs broke into the National Assembly to assert their demands for a new government and parliament. Consequently, charges of destruction of public property, abuse of security officers and theft of public funds were filed by the Office of Parliament and the arrest of around 47 protestors was ordered by the Public Prosecution. Twenty-four defendants are currently being held for 21-days pending investigations.

The prosecution is also said to be requesting that immunity be lifted from eight MPs who’ve participated in the parliament break-in. In that regard, Al-Khorafi said on Monday that he has not yet received an official request.