Kuwaiti MPs at Parliament in Kuwait City, Jan. 29, 2024. (Credit: Yasser al-Zayyat/AFP)
On May 13, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mechaal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, approved a new government, the ninth in four years and the second since his inauguration in December, against a backdrop of political crisis in the country. The announcement came two days after the country's leader dissolved parliament and suspended certain articles of the constitution for a period not exceeding four years. The Emir subsequently announced that he would assume legislative functions, accusing some members of parliament of seeking to “interfere” in order to deprive him of his powers. Unlike other monarchies in the region, Kuwait has an influential parliament, although the keys to power remain essentially in the hands of the ruling al-Sabah family. Could this change with the latest upheavals? Kristin Diwan, an expert at the Arab Gulf States Institute in...
On May 13, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mechaal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, approved a new government, the ninth in four years and the second since his inauguration in December, against a backdrop of political crisis in the country. The announcement came two days after the country's leader dissolved parliament and suspended certain articles of the constitution for a period not exceeding four years. The Emir subsequently announced that he would assume legislative functions, accusing some members of parliament of seeking to “interfere” in order to deprive him of his powers. Unlike other monarchies in the region, Kuwait has an influential parliament, although the keys to power remain essentially in the hands of the ruling al-Sabah family. Could this change with the latest upheavals? Kristin Diwan, an expert at the Arab Gulf States Institute in...