Kuwait government submits resignation: TV

The Kuwaiti government submitted its resignation to the country’s ruler on Monday, the private al-Rai television channel reported, deepening a political crisis in the major oil exporter and U.S. ally.

“The Kuwaiti cabinet submitted its resignation to the emir,” Rai announced, without giving further details.

The government’s move came just days after a court ruling annulled a February parliamentary election and restored the previous assembly.

There has been no immediate official word on the cabinet's resignation.

The constitutional court’s ruling last week effectively dissolved parliament, after the February election had given Islamist-led opposition lawmakers a majority in the 50-seat assembly.

The court’s ruling also restored the previous, more government-friendly assembly.

Opposition members from the scrapped parliament rejected the court ruling and described it as “null and void,” insisting that the court has exceeded its mandate stipulated under the law.

The opposition also called on the court to reverse its decision and urged its supporters to demonstrate on Tuesday in protest against the ruling.

Kuwait has been rocked by a series of political crises over the past six years during which nine cabinets resigned and parliament was dissolved four times.

Two of the cabinet’s 16 ministers had been forced to quit over the past few weeks under pressure from MPs.

The Gulf state says it sits on around 10 percent of global oil reserves, pumps around 3.0 million barrels per day of oil. It has a native population of 1.2 million besides 2.5 million foreign residents.