Kuwait crown prince announces new elections

Kuwait's crown prince has ordered its parliament again dissolved and new elections for the country after a court decision reinstated lawmakers from 2020.

Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber made the announcement Monday in an address to the nation Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan draws to an end this week. He called the decision the will of the Kuwaiti people, according to the state-run KUNA news agency.

Elections were scheduled within the next two months.

“We decided to dissolve the 2020 National Assembly, which was reinstated by the Constitutional Court … and we will call for holding general elections in the next months,” Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said on Monday in an address on behalf of the ruling emir, who has handed over most of his duties to him.

The Gulf Arab state, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has been grappling with prolonged bickering between the government and elected parliament that has hampered fiscal reforms.

Parliament had been dissolved last year in a bid to end the feuding and early elections were held in September, in which the opposition made gains. The Constitutional Court in March annulled the polls and restored the previous assembly.