World News | Kuwait Dissolves Its Parliament Again Amid Years of Political Gridlock in Oil-rich Nation

Dubai, Feb 15 (AP) Kuwait's emir on Thursday dissolved parliament, the latest dissolution to strike the oil-rich nation's legislature amid years of political gridlock.

The state-run KUNA news agency announced the decree from the country's ruling emir, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber. It blamed “offensive and uncontrolled” utterances by lawmakers for the decision.

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Domestic political disputes have been gripping Kuwait for years — including the overhaul of Kuwait's welfare system — which prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt. That's left it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries, despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves.

Parliament has been repeatedly dissolved after failing to move forward, with Kuwait's Constitutional Court in 2023 annulling a 2022 decree overturning another such annulment. The country's late emir then annulled that parliament again and held an election for a new parliament, which now has been annulled with Thursday's decision.

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Kuwait, a nation home to some 4.2 million people that's slightly smaller than the US state of New Jersey, has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves.

It has been a staunch US ally since the 1991 Gulf War expelled the occupying Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein.

Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops in the country, as well as the forward headquarters of the US Army in the Middle East.(AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)