Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait’s emir again dissolved the small oil-rich country’s parliament on Friday, citing the political deadlock that has prevailed in recent years.
Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber made the announcement in a speech broadcast on state television, saying other unspecified parts of the constitution had also been suspended. He calculated the suspension for “a period not exceeding four years,” without giving further details.
“The unhealthy atmosphere experienced by Kuwait in previous years has encouraged the spread of corruption to reach most state facilities, and unfortunately reached economic and security institutions,” said Sheikh Meshal, 83. “It has even affected the justice system, which is the sanctuary of the rights and freedoms of the people.”
He added: “I will never allow the misuse of democracy to destroy the State, because the interests of the people of Kuwait come before all else.”
In April, Kuwait held national elections for the fourth time in as many years, seeking to break a long-standing political deadlock.
Internal political disputes have been plaguing Kuwait for years, including over changes to the welfare system, and the stalemate has prevented the sheikh from going into debt. That has left it with little in its coffers to pay inflated public sector salaries despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves.
Kuwait, a nation of about 4.2 million people that is slightly smaller than the US state of New Jersey, has the world’s sixth-largest known oil reserves.
It has been a staunch ally of the United States since the 1991 Gulf War drove out Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi occupation forces. Kuwait is home to about 13,500 U.S. military personnel, as well as the U.S. military’s forward headquarters in the Middle East.
Kuwait is alone among the Gulf Arab countries in having a democratically elected parliament that exercises some controls over the ruling family, which appoints the government and can dissolve the assembly at will.
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