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With political parties banned and some candidates campaigning on multiple platforms, working out the election gains of the various blocs and alliances is not straightforward.

Invigorated by the Arab Spring, and encouraged by last year’s dissolution of parliament following protests over corruption, a new parliament looks set to bring Kuwait to tipping point. Analysts say there is only so long the country can endure the paralysis caused by pitching an elected parliament against a hand-picked government

A family feud among the Al Ghanim, one of Kuwait’s most high-ranking billionaire business clans, has been aired in public, following media coverage of a New York court case. While some say it has long been an open secret that brothers Bassam and Kutayba Al Ghanim do not get along, the allegations in the case brought by the younger Bassam are astonishing.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has appointed outgoing defence minister and deputy premier Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah as prime minister. The appointment, on 30 November, came just two days after the government of Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah resigned due to pressure from the opposition, which had refused to co-operate.

While the opposition has been undermined in parliament, the government confronts a continuing challenge on the streets.

On 16 November, opposition-led demonstrators stormed the parliamentary building, calling for prime minister Nasser Mohammed Al- Ahmed Al-Sabah to resign. Their anger was directed at the recent corruption and bribery scandals that have rocked the government, and an October constitutional ruling preventing the opposition from grilling the prime minister over the illegal money transfers.

The storming of parliament has highlighted the extent of tensions within Kuwait’s malfunctioning political system, but rather than building momentum behind another Arab Spring revolution, it has left the parliamentary opposition weaker and the departure of prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed a more distant prospect. Even so, with street protests and opposition from the ruling family’s Al-Salem branch, the Al-Jaber leadership faces a tough time

With the government weakened by a corruption scandal and growing opposition, thousands of public sector employees have taken to the streets to demand higher wages and continued state subsidies

EMIR SHEIKH SABAH: Meets UK heir to the throne; JABER AL-MUBARAK: Denies troop increase plans

A lengthy meeting between Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and opposition MPs on 1 November focused on their concerns over the ability of the prime minister and government to run the country.

While Qatar basks in the glory of its successful involvement in the campaign to bring an end to Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s rule, the big challenge for the emirate’s leadership may yet be to come.

The National Assembly on 29 June passed the 2011/12 budget, outlining spending of KD19.4bn ($67.7bn), an 11.1% increase on last year. There have been limited protests, but continued demands for the removal of the prime minister and better health and education infrastructure.

While Kuwait and Baghdad have been edging towards compromise in the war of words over Iraq’s Mubarak Al-Kabir port mega-project, tensions are being stoked by threats from an Iraqi militant group with strong Iranian connections. Washington shares Kuwait’s concerns about Kataib Hizbollah’s potential to further inflame tensions in the region

In its first official comments on the Bubiyan island port dispute, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded that its neighbour halt construction of its new megaport until the impact on Iraqi waterways can be ascertained. Iraq is sending a commission “formed from experts and specialists in all fields and from different ministries” to Kuwait to assess the project, foreign minister Hoshiar Zebari told Al-Sumaria TV.

The start of construction on the new Kuwaiti Mubarak Al-Kabir port near Iraq has reignited long-standing resentments over territory, security and the legacy of reparations from the Saddam era