40 lawmakers attend ceremonial opening of Assembly session

Kuwait: Forty lawmakers attended on Sunday a ceremonial opening session of the new National Assembly “in a bid to ward off any constitutional suspicions”, according to MP Saleh Ashour, who chaired the session as one of the oldest MPs. Ashour adjourned the session immediately after he opened it because the government was not present, a precondition for the session to be legal. The government has not yet been formed following the snap polls on April 4.

Under Kuwaiti law, the new National Assembly must hold its inaugural session within two weeks of elections. But HH the Amir used his constitutional powers under article 106 of the constitution to delay Assembly sessions for a month. The new session’s date was set for May 14.

Among those who attended were MP Marzouq Al-Ghanem and prominent among those absent were MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun and nine other MPs. MP Obaid Al-Wasmi protested against adjourning the session due to the absence of the government, saying the process clearly breached constitutional rules and the session should be held with or without the presence of the government.

Meanwhile, the constitutional court has set April 24 as the date to look into challenges against the April 4 elections after the door for submitting petitions closed on Sunday. In total, the court received 13 petitions challenging the election results and some demanding annulling the elections because the decree inviting voters for polls allegedly violated the constitution.