Meanwhile....

Meanwhile, inside the parliament the government played out its strategic and well-planned move. Without even discussing or allowing a discussion of the proposed law, the government again asked to refer the law to the constitutional court. In the absence of the 29 members. There were 34 members in attendance, making a quorum. There were 18 government-puppy members plus the speaker plus the 15 ministers (one of whom was rushed in from Lebanon on a private plane as a replacement for the resigned minister of information, to be sworn in and attend to vote for this motion). Anyway, 33 voted for the motion, the speaker voted against. So, 33 out of 65 barely a majority!

Later the protesting 29 members declared that they will enact article 100 of the constitution (AlDistoor) calling for questioning the prime minister. This will be submitted to the parliament today May 17th at noon.

This is a first in Kuwait's history, never has a prime minister been questioned. Let a alone that a sheikh is being questioned. A notion that is considered offensive to some from the ruling family. The article allows for at least 8 days from the day of the submission of the request to question the minister, unless expedited by agreement with the minister. Anyway, if the questioning happens, and no deal is struck before it, then hard questions would be put to the prime minister.

The problem with this is that the prime minister is not really the source of the problem. It is the members of the government that have been trying to disable any process of reform. The likes of Ahmed AlFahad and Mohammed Sharar. Their ambitions for power and influence, demand that the status quo is maintained. They themselves represent a view in the ruling family that the constitution is too limiting for their powers, and would be happier without it! Hence, this story isn't just about the number of constituencies.

So, if the questioning happens (I don't think it's likely - it would be a fiasco!), and the members of parliament decide that they cannot cooperate with the prime minister, then article 102 is enacted. Article 102 means that the matter is referred to the Amir, who has to decide to either dismiss the prime minister and re-appoints a new government, or he dissolves the parliament and new elections are called for within 2 months.