Kuwait cabinet quits in step toward ending political impasse

Kuwait’s government resigned on Monday after less than a year in office, in a step aimed at breaking a political deadlock that has blocked fiscal reforms.

The resignation was received by Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, state-run KUNA news agency reported. The move had been expected after several rounds of talks between feuding government officials and opposition lawmakers.

Led by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, it’s the third government to resign in a year. Finance Minister Khalifa Hamada, who stepped down in August, is widely expected to be replaced. Appointed last January, Hamada became the fifth person to hold the post in just under seven years.

Kuwait Amir receives resignation of gov’t https://t.co/d0TLm9b9B2#KUNA #KUWAIT pic.twitter.com/NvGdaRJHh2

— Kuwait News Agency – English Feed (@kuna_en) November 8, 2021

The energy-rich Gulf nation, home to about 6 per cent of the world’s oil reserves and the fifth-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, posted a record budget deficit in the last fiscal year amid a cash crisis exacerbated by a plunge in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

The cabinet on Monday approved draft decrees to pardon a number of Kuwaitis, as part of a national dialog called by the Emir. The amnesty is widely expected to include former opposition lawmakers and activists exiled in Turkey.