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Kuwait emir accepts govt resignation, keeps PM -TV | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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KUWAIT, (Reuters) – Kuwait’s ruler has accepted the resignation ofthe government and reappointed his nephew Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah as prime minister, privately-owned al-Rai Television reported on Monday.

Kuwait’s cabinet tendered its resignation last month over a request by three Sunni Islamist parliamentarians to question the prime minister but the emir, who has the last say in politics, did not immediately accept it.

“There is news of the acceptance of the resignation of the government and the appointment of Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad to form a new government,” the television reported without giving further details.

The three deputies were objecting to Sheikh Nasser’s decision to allow a visit by an Iranian Shi’ite Muslim cleric, who they said had insulted the Prophet Mohammad’s companions.

The three had also wanted to question the prime minister over alleged corruption and mismanagement of funds in the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter.

The crisis jeopardises crucial economic reforms such as a plan to set up a markets regulator and recent measures to tackle the impact of the global financial crisis by pumping cash into the Arab world’s second-largest bourse to reverse months of declines.

The Kuwaiti parliament is regarded as one of the most politically open among the Gulf Arab states, and regularly challenges the government.

The emir dissolved parliament and called fresh elections earlier this year to resolve a previous deadlock between parliament and the government.