Chaos in Kuwait: Politics as Usual? On 18 June, the Emir of Kuwait, Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, suspended parliament for a month to head off an escalating row between the cabinet and parliament, the latter of which was about to publicly grill the interior minister over the country’s citizenship laws. Two days later, the constitutional court stepped in with its own ruling that declared the sitting (but newly suspended) parliament to be illegal and called for the reinstatement of the previous parliament. The court’s rationale was that an emiri decree this past February—which called for elections after the previous parliament was dissolved in December—had been unconstitutional, thereby nullifying the elections that followed. Twenty-four parliamentary members resigned in protest, at least seventeen of whom also belonged to the reinstated (previous) parliament, a move that could prevent the old assembly from reconvening.
A Little Context In discussing Kuwaiti politics, it is always difficult to decide where to start. Kuwait's Supreme Constitutional Court rules parliament unconstitutional. KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait's constitutional court further complicated the country's chaotic political situation on Wednesday, ruling the Parliament was elected unconstitutionally and restoring the previous legislature. The state news agency KUNA said the court threw out the February 2 vote because Kuwait's leader, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, drew up the decree for the elections after the Cabinet resigned.
A caretaker Cabinet was appointed before the decree was issued, but the court ruled that was insufficient and voided the election. Tensions have flared since the election gave the opposition control of the chamber. Islamists and their allies have pressured two ministers to resign. The opposition bloc insisted it deserved more than half the seats in the 15-member Cabinet because of the election results. Opposition lawmaker Musallam Al-Barrak told KUNA that it was a "blatant attack on the choice of the people.
" Kuwait has the Gulf's most politically independent Parliament. Political participation and economic diversification in the UAE and Kuwait.
Kuwait - curators... Interview: Mona Kareem, Part 2 - Kuwaiti politics, foreign policy, sectarianism, and tweeting | Ibishblog. Below is the second part of the Ibishblog interview with Mona Kareem, the online activist, blogger, tweep and journalist who is a leading advocate for the stateless community of Kuwait. Part one of the interview focused mainly on the issue of the stateless. But I also asked Mona about the recent crisis and the ousting of the former prime minister, the next phase of Kuwaiti politics, sectarianism in the country and its foreign policy, and tweeting and blogging in and about Kuwait.
The replacement of the Prime Minister and the next phase in Kuwaiti politics Ibishblog: The impression from the outside is that the recent crisis has been very focused on a couple of things. Number one, the former prime minister as an individual, the length of time he had been in office, the resistance of the Emir to replacing him, and ignoring protests by both the public and MPs. However, I am completely dismayed that this protest came to be driven by Members of Parliament. Mona Kareem: Yes, of course. Jailed for tweeting in Kuwait - By Priyanka Motaparthy. Armed security officers wearing balaclavas led Nasser Abul, blindfolded and shackled, into a courtroom in downtown Kuwait City on July 19. Accused of crimes against the state, he answered the judge's questions from a wood-and-metal cage in the courtroom.
His mother, watching the proceedings, hoped her 26-year-old eldest son would finally be released after nearly two months in detention. The judiciary has refused to grant her wish. Abul found himself in jail because of a few tweets. Twitter was wildly popular in Kuwait even before protests began in Tunis and Cairo, and its use in Kuwait surged as the Arab Spring provided daily inspiration for news updates and commentary. Between January and March, people in Kuwait wrote over 3.69 million tweets -- more than any other country in the Middle East, according to a June report by the Dubai School of Government. During a time of regional instability, some commentators have mistakenly called the Gulf region (minus Bahrain) an oasis of calm.