Kuwait’s new government takes charge following latest showdown with parliament

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Mar 5, 2021

Kuwaiti members of parliament attend a special session following-up on measures undertaken by the government of limit the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease, at the National Assembly headquarters in Kuwait City on February 16, 2021. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images) — Kuwaiti members of parliament attend a special session following up on measures undertaken by the government to limit the spread of COVID-19 at the National Assembly headquarters in Kuwait City on Feb. 16, 2021. — YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait’s new Cabinet was sworn in on March 3, six weeks after the previous Cabinet had resigned after mounting tensions between the government and the National Assembly and amid a growing sense of urgency in the political and economic challenges facing the country.

The inclusion of four new ministers in the Cabinet lineup, and especially the appointment of a former member of parliament as Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister, is an attempt to bridge the differences between the government and parliament that have so often been the source of political gridlock in Kuwait.