Kuwaiti Emir Accepts Cabinet’s Resignation

Photo Credit: Reuters

Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah of Kuwait accepted the cabinet’s resignation Sunday, but the outgoing ministers have agreed to stay on until a new cabinet can be formed. The cabinet, Kuwait’s ninth since 2006, resigned last week following a controversial court ruling that dissolved parliament and reinstated its predecessor. The Economist detailed the ongoing political turmoil  in the Gulf kingdom’s parliament, which it says has been “hamstrung by its diminishing life-expectancy, accusations of electoral corruption, political and tribal divisions, and a tendency to use its limited powers to block the government’s economic projects.” Many in Kuwait reportedly suspect Saudi Arabia pressured the Kuwaiti courts to dissolve parliament.

Meanwhile, neighboring Bahrain was the subject of a joint declaration issued during a session of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. Twenty-eight countries, including France, Germany, and Mexico but not the U.S. or the U.K., signed the statement which expressed concern for the treatment of protesters and called for the immediate implementation of the council’s  human rights recommendations. This came at the same time as a controversial meeting between Bahrain’s Interior Minister and Britain’s Foreign Office in London, in which the U.K. reportedly shared policing techniques from their experience in Northern Ireland.  Also earlier this week, Bahraini police shot prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja with a tear gas canister at close range during a protest. Al-Khawaja suffered only minor injuries, but police were reported to have targeted her specifically.