The ruler of Kuwait issued a warning to the newly elected parliament on Sunday that he might dissolve the house again if it did not cooperate with the government. "Faced with the deviations and violations which threatened the nation's interests ... I was forced to take the decision of dissolving the previous parliament," Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah told the inaugural session of the parliament elected on May 17.
"My responsibility at this delicate stage ... after development has been stalled ... requires me to intervene anytime so that national interests do not fall victim to whims, irresponsible practices and narrow personal interests," the emir said, according to AFP.
Sheikh Sabah dissolved the previous parliament in March, accusing some MPs of misusing their constitutional powers during a standoff with the government.
On Sunday, the emir also defended the reappointment of his nephew Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the rest of his 15-member cabinet, which has come under fire from lawmakers, saying this was his prerogative. "Let it be known to everyone that the appointment of the prime minister and ministers is the emir's exclusive right in line with the constitution and that no one is entitled to interfere in it," Sheikh Sabah said.
The assembly reelected Jassem al-Khorafi as speaker for a record fourth time by 52 votes.
