Government in Kuwait quits over dispute

Kuwait’s Cabinet submitted its resignation Tuesday, the latest development in a cycle of clashes between the government and lawmakers that long has convulsed the sheikhdom with the strongest parliament in the Gulf.

The move reveals how the country’s politicking has caused instability, diminished public confidence and aggravated the oilrich state’s worst economic crisis in decades.

The ministers quit after the recently elected members of parliament, more than 60% of them new faces, grilled the prime minister to protest his new Cabinet appointments. The decision to reinstate the old parliament speaker, who hails from an elite merchant family, stirred anger among new lawmakers skeptical of corruption and the country’s patronage system.

The prime minister must now submit the resignations to the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who is widely expected to accept them.

Kuwait’s unusual combination of an emirappointed government and elected parliament frequently gives rise to wrangling that analysts say impedes the country’s economic and social progress.