Kuwaiti emir urges end to disputes as new parliament meets

Emir wants cooperation to end disputes and fend off internal and external dangers as the opposition consolidated its grip on parliament.

KUWAIT CITY // Kuwait's emir yesterday called on parliamentarians and the government to cooperate, end disputes and fend off internal and external dangers as the opposition consolidated its grip on parliament.

"Our country is facing a host of internal challenges and external dangers that are hampering progress ... and stalling development," Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told the new parliament elected on February 2 in snap polls.

We must show "unity and cooperation to face these dangers and its evils", said Sheikh Sabah, referring to the turmoil in several Arab countries and a series of internal political crises which rocked the state.

"Fending off these dangers should top your list of priorities ... and preserving national unity and fighting dissent ... should be your most important duty."

The Islamist-led opposition scored a resounding victory in this month's elections, controlling a majority in the 50-member house but Sheikh Sabah's new cabinet, announced on Tuesday, included only one member of the opposition and no Islamists.

The opposition, a loose formation of Islamists, nationalists and independents, won the positions the speaker and deputy speaker, and is the majority on most of the parliamentary panels.

The veteran opposition MP Ahmad Al Saadun, 78, was elected speaker by 38 votes against 26 for his only rival, the liberal MP Mohammad Al Sager.

Under Kuwait's unique democratic system, 15 unelected ministers from the 16-member cabinet are allowed to vote like elected MPs, which in effect raises the parliament membership to 65. One cabinet minister is an elected MP.

Mr Al Saadun is the longest serving lawmaker in the country. He has been a member of parliament since 1975, winning in every parliamentary poll since then.

He has also served as speaker on three occasions.

The Salafi MP Khaled Al Sultan, 74, who is the second oldest MP after Mr Al Saadun, was elected his deputy. Salafists are members of an ultra-conservative branch of Islam.

Opposition MPs also swept to most of the parliamentary panels, considered as the main tools for legislation and probes.

Kuwait has been rocked by a series of political crises that led to the resignation of eight governments and the dissolution of parliament on four occasions since 2006.

The elections, the fourth in less than six years, were held following protests that forced the former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, a nephew of the emir, to quit in November.

The emir later dissolved the previous parliament.

Recognising the growing power of youth, the emir said that he has called for a national conference to focus on the problems and explore solutions to the challenges facing the young people.

Youth groups and activists played an important role in the elections, campaigning for reformist candidates.

The new cabinet, led by Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah, a senior member of the Al Sabah ruling family, also excluded women for the first time since 2005.