Kuwaiti government resigns amid serious economic crisis

Kuwaiti government resigns amid serious economic crisis

KUWAIT CITY – Kuwaiti ministers handed in their resignations to the prime minister on Tuesday, the government communications office (CGC) said, days after lawmakers submitted a motion asking to question the premier over issues including the makeup of the cabinet.

Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah must submit the resignations to the OPEC member state's ruler, Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, for approval.

The Arab Weekly and three main Kuwaiti newspapers previously reported that Sheikh Sabah was expected to hand in the resignations.

The resignation of the cabinet, formed on December 14, had been expected after the move in parliament earlier this month that posed the first political challenge for the new emir as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

— At the heart of the crisis —

The prime minister had been due to be questioned at a parliamentary session on January 19.

The CGC said the government submitted its resignation “in light of developments in the relationship between the National Assembly and the government,” but did not elaborate.

The motion to question Sheikh Sabah, who has been premier since late 2019, was submitted by three MPs on January 5 in the first regular session of a new assembly in which the