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Kuwait's prime minister submits Cabinet's resignation

Ministers handed in their resignations Tuesday amid a standoff with parliament.

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Kuwaiti Health Minister Sheikh Basel al-Sabah (R) greets members of parliament upon his arrival for the parliament session at the national assembly in Kuwait City on Jan. 5, 2021. On Jan. 12, Sabah and the rest of the Cabinet stepped down as a result of a dispute with the parliament. — YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait’s prime minister submitted his government’s resignation Wednesday, with the Cabinet calling it quits after just a month in office. 

Prime Minister Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah handed in his Cabinet’s resignation to the Gulf-rich state’s ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, the official KUNA news agency reported. On Tuesday, ministers stepped down en masse, with the deputy prime minister citing "current developments regarding the relation between the National Assembly and the government."

Their resignation comes after 38 members of parliament sought to question the prime minister over what they believe was a violation of the Kuwaiti Constitution when he formed a new government last month.  

Kuwait’s fully elected, 50-person National Assembly is the oldest parliament in the Gulf region. The US-allied country held parliamentary elections in December, during which the opposition won nearly half the seats. All the women running lost their races, leaving the legislature without a single female lawmaker. 

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