Kuwait — Kuwait’s crown prince reportedly reappointed Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah as prime minister on Sunday and requested him to propose a cabinet. This was according to state news agency KUNA. This happened more than a month after the government quit owing to rekindled tension with parliament.
The wealthy Gulf Arab oil producer’s attempts to enact fiscal changes, such as a debt law allowing Kuwait to access global markets, have been delayed by a protracted deadlock between the administration and the elected parliament.
In an effort to put an end to the conflict, Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who has assumed most of the responsibilities of the governing emir, appointed Sheikh Ahmad as premier, dissolved the legislature, and called early elections in which the opposition gained support.
Tensions reemerged when parliamentarians demanded a debt relief package from the government, which had been sworn in last October, and tried to interview two ministers. As a result, the cabinet resigned in January.
Although political parties are forbidden in Kuwait, the legislature there has more power than that of comparable entities in other Gulf monarchies.
Although Kuwait’s fiscal and external balance sheets are robust, recurrent political disputes and institutional deadlock have stymied investment and reforms meant to lessen the country’s reliance on oil income.
