Kuwaiti parliamentary opposition files motion to oust premier

Wed, 29 Dec 2010

Kuwait City/Cairo - Kuwaiti opposition legislators have filed a motion to oust the prime minister following a recent police crackdown on one of their gatherings, local media reported Wednesday.

The 10 members of parliament who filed the motion are looking to unseat Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah for possibly authorizing the crackdown three weeks ago.

Special forces allegedly beat people with batons, leaving more than 12 injured, including four parliamentarians. The opposition claims that the prime minister will have violated public freedoms if he authorized the raid.

The motion to unseat Sheik Nasser was filed after nine hours of questioning in a closed-door session on Tuesday. It is scheduled to be voted on by lawmakers on January 5.

If the vote is successful, it would be the first time a Kuwaiti prime minister has been defeated with such a motion.

According to parliamentary sources of the Kuwait Times, the premier said during Tuesday's closed-door session that the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, had asked him "to apply the law."

He however stopped short of saying that the Kuwaiti ruler, who is his uncle, ordered him to use force against people at the gathering.

According to Kuwaiti media reports, the opposition claims that it has the support of around 22 parliamentarians - just three votes short of the necessary number needed to unseat the prime minister.

If passed, the issue will be referred to the emir, who will either dismiss the premier or dissolve the parliament and call for fresh elections, according to the Kuwait Times.

The National Assembly has been dissolved four times already over the past five years.

The issue has caused a stir in the oil-rich Gulf state, with Kuwaiti authorities allegedly shutting down the office of the al- Jazeera television channel after it aired extensive coverage of the police crackdown. They accused the channel of "interference in domestic affairs."

Footage on the Doha-based channel showed several people, including lawmakers, who had been injured after the raid.

Tuesday's session was the eighth time that Sheikh Nasser has been questioned since he assumed his post in February 2006.

Opposition lawmakers have called for him to resign five times. They have accused him of misusing government funds, mismanaging the economy, and breaching the country's constitution.

The emir nevertheless reappointed Sheikh Nasser last year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360012,files-motion-oust-premier.html.