Kuwait Times, Sunday, Jan 29, 2023 | Rajab 7, 1444
Amiri order to accept government resignation
Kuwait:
An Amiri order was issued on Thursday to accept
the resignation of the government just three months after its formation as a
result of disputes with the National Assembly. The order also asked the
government to act as a caretaker government to run day-to-day urgent matters
until a new cabinet is formed.
The government submitted its resignation on Monday following a standoff with MPs
who insisted to debate populist draft legislation that the government sees very
expensive for public funds. One of the legislation requires the government to
purchase billions of dinars of bank loans owed by over a half a million Kuwaiti
citizens to local banks.
The government said the draft law is very costly because it deals with over KD
14 billion of personal, consumer and housing loans. MPs insisted that the cost
was magnified because housing loans are not included and the value of personal
and consumer loans is under KD 2 billion.
The dispute between the two authorities became public after two ministers
attending the assembly session on January 10 walked out of the session after MPs
rejected their request to return populist draft legislation to the assembly’s
financial and economic affairs committee for reconsideration.
HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who has been delegated some
powers of HH the Amir, is expected to begin customary consultations with current
and former assembly speakers and prime ministers. After that, he can either
rename Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah or another personality to form the new
cabinet.
Kuwait has been rocked by continued political crises between the National
Assembly and various government for most of the past two decades during which
the Assembly was repeatedly dissolved and many cabinets formed. But the country
breathed a sigh of relief following the September parliamentary election when
MPs and the government appeared to be on good terms and very cooperative.