On Friday, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, issued an Emiri decree to dissolve the country’s National Assembly and temporarily suspend certain provisions of the Constitution for a period of four years.
This measure was taken roughly one month after the last round of elections in April 2024, which in turn were called for a year after the last dissolution of the parliament in February 2023.
During a televised address, the Emir stated that during these four years, “a comprehensive review of the democratic process will take place."
According to the Emiri decree, both the Emir and the government will assume the responsibilities of the National Assembly, effectively amalgamating the legislative and executive branches during this interim period.
Rejection, arrests, and praise
The decision was met with mixed attitudes. Critics, mostly from abroad, denounced the Emir’s “coup against the constitution,” pointing out that the royal family now yields complete power.
Others denounced the arrests against former members of parliament, likening them to authoritarian regimes in the Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia, warning that the Emir would “fill [Kuwait’s] prisons with elites merely for the offense of criticism and objection.”
Others also denounced what they deemed “the mentality of Arab rulers towards the democratic process,” claiming that they “cannot stand it and do not like it, especially if they, like the Emir of Kuwait and Sadat, have a military background!!!”
In this context, arrests were carried out in the country against activists for reportedly sounding criticism for the decision, including former member of parliament Waleed Al-Tabtabie.
In a recent tweet prior to his imprisonment, Al-Tabtabie implied that other Gulf countries were involved in the decision to dissolve the parliament, wishing the parliament would “enjoy its authorities in their entirety”.
In another recent tweet, he pledged to “defend the freedoms of the people, its rights and its constitutional acquisitions, of which we will not accept any infringement.” Notedly, over a decade ago, Al-Tabtabie joined rebel forces in Syria, which formed part of the Muslim Brotherhood axis in their battles against the Assad regime,
Likewise, another popular Kuwaiti blogger named Neron was also reportedly sent to 21 days in jail for tweeting against the decision.
Meanwhile, supporters and apologists of the Emir lauded the decision as a triumph against Islamist forces, with some users pointing out that while there is “happiness in Kuwait, there is sadness in Iran,” while others regarded the Emir as a “hero” who “supported his homeland and the Gulf and eliminated the conspiracy of the Hassan Al-Banna [founder of the Muslim Brotherhood] and Khomeini [supreme leader of Iran] with a final blow, and you will hear their screams in the coming hours. Countries need leaders who have courageous decisions, and with this decision, Kuwait, God willing, has become safe.”
Another supporter reported that the stock market in Kuwait showed a 2% growth during the first minutes of trade following the Emir’s decision to dissolve the parliament, analyzing that this shows that “people’s expectations are now higher than the Kuwaiti government’s ability to deliver, as the Council [Parliament] was seen as a source of aggravation and disruption.”
Dr. Eran Segal: the issue of heirdom is at the heart of the parliament chaos
The Jerusalem Post reached out to Dr. Eran Segal, lecturer at Yezreel Valley College and researcher of the Gulf region, to learn more about the chaos at the Kuwaiti parliament.
“The Kuwaiti arena is complex, composed of different groups with conflicting interests, ideologies, and perceptions. There are many problems of corruption and a notable friction between Islamist and liberal worldviews, which also play a part across the Gulf and the Arab world.”
The Kuwaiti parliament according to Segal is unique in both historical and political terms, as the little Emirate has boasted a parliament ever since it was established, and not just a make-believe actor, but rather a “challenging parliament which criticizes and oversees the executive branch, and even gets to approve the election of the Emir.”
According to Segal, the parliament has been suspended and dissolved many times over the years, though since 1992, the regime preferred an approach of dissolving the parliament only under constitutional procedures.
In this case, Segal explained, "The main problem has to do with inheritance of the leadership. Kuwait used to be ruled alternately by two branches of the royal family, but then in 2006, with the death of the Emir, a crisis ensued, and the rulership stayed in one branch and went from brother to brother instead of being ceded to the alternate branch. Since 2020, after the death of Sabah Al-Ahmad, the competing heirs have attempted to extend their influence through parliament, and this inner conflict within the family is what led to the current chaotic state of the parliament.”
As for the Islamist forces whose ousting was celebrated by some of the Kuwaiti voices mentioned above, Segal deems that, though Islamist actors are the main opposition forces in the parliament, this is nevertheless a secondary issue to the one of heirdom.