Political Crisis in Kuwait as MPs Boycott Parliament Session

Photo Credit: AP

Kuwait’s ongoing political crisis worsened Tuesday after only five members of the 50 member house and a handful of cabinet ministers turned up for the parliament’s first session since being reinstated by a court ruling. National Assembly speaker Jassim al-Kharafi was forced to adjourn the meeting after both pro-government and opposition MPs declined to attend the “illegitimate parliament.” In a petition signed by 35 former MPs and thousands of citizens, the opposition threatened to boycott any forthcoming election if the electoral system is changed. If the National Assembly, whose current members were elected in 2009 and only reinstated recently after 2012 elections were declared illegal, fails to reconvene next week, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah will have to dissolve parliament and call for new elections after Ramadan.