Kuwait Parliament Dissolved, Elections to Follow

Photo Credit: BBC

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dissolved the 2009 parliament, just over three months after it was reinstated by the constitutional court. According to Kuwaiti law, new elections must be held within 60 days. Former opposition parliamentarians welcomed the move, but they also pressed for another decree to set the date for the election and warned against amending the controversial electoral constituency law to influence the outcome of polls. This latest dissolution is the third in a year that has pitted opposition members staunchly against supporters of the ruling family on a number of issues. ”The 2009 assembly has gone without regret,” former opposition lawmaker Mubarak al-Waalan said via Twitter.

Since 2006, the parliament has been dissolved five times, and BBC reports that Kuwait’s parliament “has the most powers of any elected body in the Gulf,”  due partially to opposition MPs ability to “openly criticize the ruling Sabah family.”