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Kuwait’s constitutional court rules 2013 parliamentary vote legal | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City in this December 16, 2012 file photo (REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee/Files)


Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City in this December 16, 2012 file photo (REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee/Files)

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City in this December 16, 2012 file photo (REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee/Files)

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Kuwait’s top court on Monday ruled that parliamentary elections held earlier this year were legal, dismissing lawsuits that could have led to the dissolution of parliament and a fresh round of elections. The ruling was issued after Kuwaiti ministers submitted their resignations to the country’s prime minister.

Kuwait’s state news agency (KUNA) reported on Monday that the country’s speaker had “officially received notice of cabinet resignations,” adding that the government would not be attending. Tuesday’s parliamentary session.

Parliament speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim informed KUNA that he received a “formal letter from the government that it will not attend Tuesday’s parliament session and that the ministers have resigned.”

“I hope for the sake of Kuwait that the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al Sabah will succeed in reshuffling the government,” he said.

For his part, Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah confirmed the resignation. He said it was up to Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah to “decide what is best to achieve the national interest.”

Kuwait’s Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the July 2013 parliamentary elections—the sixth parliamentary elections held in Kuwait since 2006—were legal. The latest parliamentary elections had brought in an assembly seen as more amenable to the current government than previous parliaments, raising hopes of an economic boom in the Gulf state.

The July vote was held following electoral reforms that were challenged in court by opponents who lost out at the most recent elections.