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Kuwait’s emir has dissolved the country’s parliament following years of political deadlock, accusing lawmakers of infringing on the monarch’s powers and alleging corruption has spread throughout state institutions.
Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said on Friday the democratic process would be revised “in its entirety” and that sections of Kuwait’s constitution would be suspended for up to four years, hinting that parts of the document would probably be amended.
The emir, a member of the ruling Al-Sabah dynasty who took the throne last year, said that lawmakers were encroaching on the powers of the head of state, including to choose a crown prince — the royal who handles day-to-day affairs.
“Unfortunately, we have faced some unimaginable, unbearable difficulties and impediments,” the 83-year-old said on Friday, according to the state news agency, a reference to the gridlock that has held back Kuwait’s development.
“We were left with no option other than taking this hard decision to rescue the country and protect its higher national interests and resources of the nation,” Sheikh Mishal added.
“I will not allow . . . that democracy will be exploited to destroy the state.”
Although Kuwait’s monarch appoints the cabinet, with members of the ruling family in important posts, voters select lawmakers for its 50-person legislative assembly. The active parliament has frequently frustrated Kuwait’s government, stymying laws and grilling ministers. The chamber has been dissolved many times.
Kuwait’s new parliament had been due to start its session on Tuesday after voters elected lawmakers this year in the country’s fourth ballot in four years.
Bader al-Saif, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, said in a post on X that the emir’s move was a “historic step”.
Kuwait is the Middle East’s fourth biggest crude oil exporter and its sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority, is estimated by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute to have assets of $923bn under management.
But the tiny country, wedged between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, has long struggled to use its oil riches to develop the state, partly because of perennial conflict between the parliament and the ruling family, which dominates the executive. Parliament has blocked Kuwait’s government from borrowing or dipping into its sovereign wealth fund.
Sheikh Mishal assumed the throne when his predecessor and half brother Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah died after just three years as ruler.