Kuwait parliament dissolved television reports claim
Wednesday, 19 Mar 2008 15:10
Kuwait's parliament has been dissolved
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Kuwaiti television stations have said that the country's parliament has been dissolved.
The Al-Watan and Al-Rai stations quoted unnamed government sources as saying that a decision had been taken to dissolve the parliament so as to allow early elections to be called.
Kuwaiti MP Nasser al-Sane told reporters outside parliament next week: "We have heard that parliament has been dissolved constitutionally."
The country's cabinet resigned on Monday, complaining of a lack of cooperation from the opposition-dominated parliament.
Reports suggest that Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir of the world's seventh-largest oil exporter, has agreed to hold elections in May.
As a result of the reported decision to dissolve parliament, the main index of Kuwaiti stock exchange rose 1.5 per cent to 14,450.40 points, an all-time high.
"There is hope in the market that the assembly gets dissolved because it has hindered economic reforms," the Reuters news agency quotes Mustafa Behbehani, Director at Gulf Consulting, as saying.
"Investors hope with a new assembly, things might go in the right direction."