Kuwait’s parliament to convene on February 15

Kuwait’s newly-elected parliament will hold its first session on February 15, the cabinet said following its weekly meeting. The session will elect the speaker and his deputies in a much anticipated standoff after three MPs, Ahmad Al Saadoon, Ali AL Rashed and Mohammad Al Saqr, have so fair said that they would be seeking the much-coveted post in a power-conscious parliament. The announcement of the launch of the new parliament was made hours after the Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah accepted the resignation of the government. The resignation was expected following the parliamentary elections held on Thursday and in which tribesmen and Islamists made gains, easing out women and curbing the number of liberals in the 50-seat parliament. In a post-elections statement, MP Marzouq Al Ganem, the only survivor from the National Action Bloc, said that he was confident his running mates would be back in the parliament. “I can tell you that this extremist parliament will not last,” he said. Bloc candidates Abdullah Al Roomi, Salah Al Mulla and Aseel Al Awadhi lost their seats while Adel Al Sarawi opted out of the elections. Several analysts told Gulf News that they did not expect the parliament to last its four-year term, citing huge differences between its members.