KUWAIT: Kuwait’s ruling emir accepted the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet on Monday, state news agency KUNA reported, asking them to continue important duties until a new cabinet is sworn in.
Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah tendered his resignation earlier on Monday to the Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who has the final say in state matters.
Local media, quoting members of parliament, said a cabinet shakeup had been expected.
The government offered no explanation for the move. However, it comes after lawmakers grilled acting Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s ruling family, over budget issues.
The National Assembly was set to consider a no-confidence vote against Sheikh Mohammad beginning Tuesday and had plans to question other ministers as well, Kuwait Times said in a report.
Kuwait, home to 4 million people, is ruled absolutely by Sheikh Sabah, though the country has the strongest parliament of any Gulf Arab country. The parliament increasingly has been focused on budgetary issues and waste as low global energy prices have been brutal to Kuwait, an OPEC-member nation with the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves.
The country called early parliamentary elections in October 2016 and opposition figures did return to the 50-seat legislature in November elections. Parliament still appears to be controlled by pro-government lawmakers.
Kuwait has faced the threat of militant attacks since the rise of the Daesh group. A Daesh-claimed suicide bombing in 2015 targeting a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City killed 27 people and wounded scores. In October 2016, an Egyptian driving a garbage truck loaded with explosives and Daesh papers rammed into a truck carrying five US soldiers in Kuwait, wounding only himself in the attack.