Kuwait MPs call for PM Sheikh Ahmad to appoint co-operative new government

Parliamentarians and political observers are hoping the next government formed under the appointed Kuwaiti prime minister will co-operate harmoniously with parliament.

An Emiri decree was issued on Sunday reassigning Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah as Prime Minister after months of political feuds that have hampered much-needed reform programmes.

After the announcement, politician Faisal Kandari said: “I hope that the next government will be ambitious, capable of assuming responsibility and agreeing and co-ordinating with the members of the National Assembly."

The next cabinet will be Sheikh Ahmad’s third in less than eight months.

His previous government resigned less than 100 days after it was formed, after members clashed with parliament over popular bills, including a proposal that the government bought citizens' debts and rescheduled their payments.

“We are hoping for the formation of a government away from pressures of filling quotas and the usual political pressures that get in the way of forming a competent cabinet,” Hussain Jamal, a Kuwaiti political analyst, told Sky News.

“The Prime Minister now enjoys support, but there are populist issues affecting the decision of the members of the National Assembly who support the Prime Minister. We are facing a political dilemma between the two political institutions that was and is expected to remain. But any harmony that might exist will remain temporary if populist issues return to the fore."

For his part, Parliament Speaker Ahmed Saadoun confirmed that the ordinary parliamentary session on Tuesday will not take place if the government fails to attend, whether or not quorum is met.

Mr Saadoun has been forced to adjourn scheduled National Assembly sessions over the past month due to a lack of a quorum and the government’s failure to attend. The adjournments delay debate and voting on key bills related to much-needed economic reforms.

Given the circumstances, the Kuwaiti parliament’s work remains effectively suspended until the formation of the next government amid widespread legal debate over the constitutionality of holding sessions in the absence of the government.

Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Sabah has begun talks to form a new government to succeed the current caretaker cabinet under Sheikh Ahmad, a son of the current emir.

Sheikh Ahmad's last government resigned on January 23 after only three months in office following a feud with the National Assembly over requests to question two cabinet ministers and a controversial draft bill.

The loan relief bill proposed that the government buy several billion Kuwaiti dinars' worth of citizens' consumer and personal loans.

The government said the move would be too expensive, costing almost $46 billion in public funds, while some rival politicians priced it at less than $6.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Kuwaitis are also monitoring the rulings of Kuwait’s Constitutional Court regarding appeals calling for the annulment of the current parliament. The parliament has been dissolved 10 times since it was formed in 1963.