Manama> The Constitutional Court annulled the parliament elected in Kuwait last September. The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court ruled on Sunday that the election of the Parliament (National Assembly) was invalid and that the former assembly should be reinstated. On June 22 last year, the crown prince dissolved the assembly and announced a general election following the rift with the government worsened. Then on September 29, elections to the Parliament were held. However, Justice Mohammad Bin Naji said that the Constitutional Court is declaring the dissolution of Parliament and the September elections null and void. He also said in the judgment that the constitutional powers of the Parliament, which was dissolved in June, will be restored from the date of this judgment. The court’s judgment came in several appeals challenging the validity of the election process, the orders calling for elections and the order dissolving the former National Assembly. The court order comes at a time of renewed tension between the elected parliament and the government. The opposition won the general election in September. The opposition won a majority with 28 seats in the 50-member assembly. Prominent opposition leaders, who earlier abstained from the elections on the allegation of interference by the executive authorities in Parliament, won this time. Soon the opposition and the government were at loggerheads. This led to Kuwait’s fifth cabinet resignation in two years. Then the government resigned on January 23. The Prime Minister was reappointed by the Emir of Kuwait on March 5. Read on deshabhimani.com
