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Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah formally dissolved the National Assembly (parliament) via decree on 1 May, setting in motion the move towards another general election.

New government, further elections=political risk downgrade: Kuwaiti politics and government remain in flux after Crown Prince Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced the dissolution of the National Assembly (parliament) on 17 April, setting the scene for a third general election in as many years.

Kuwait's political turmoil has continued in the wake of the shock Constitutional Court ruling on 19 March that annulled last year's general election and reinstated the previous parliament. In a bid to move the situation forward, Crown Prince Mishaal has dissolved the newly-returned chamber and set the scene for yet another poll. The new cabinet announced in early April is likely to be in post for only a couple of months.

In Kuwait, the court’s willingness to hold members of its ruling family to account has been revived, with a ten-year prison sentence handed to Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, son of the former premier Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, for his role in a $1bn corruption case.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) has completed the sale of its 10% working interest in two production licences (PLs) in Norway to Lime Petroleum.  It said it had achieved record profits from its Norwegian assets in 2022, describing the sale as one of its most successful divestments.

Sheikha Basmah Mubarak Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, wife of Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, held a lunch for around 25 female ambassadors and wives of ambassadors at Al-Rimiya Farm in Al-Abdali area.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned home on 19 March, following his latest trip to receive medical treatment in Italy. He had left just over two weeks earlier, on 4 March.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are reshaping their regional outlook, as transactional relationships replace some of the more ideologically-driven approaches taken since the 2011 Arab Spring. Former outcasts led by Iran and Syria are being welcomed into Gulf palaces once again, at least in part due to concerns the US can no longer provide a trusted security umbrella. In this rapidly changing environment, Iran could yet emerge as a significant new market for GCC investors.

The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the September 2022 general election and reinstate the previous National Assembly (parliament) has wide-ranging implications, going beyond its immediate impacts of wiping out any legislation passed since the poll and returning Marzouq Al-Ghanim as speaker.

The Kuwaiti authorities are reviving long-running plans to drastically reduce the number of foreign workers, despite signs that such a policy could harm Kuwait’s ability to develop a viable post-oil economy.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left on another trip to receive medical treatment in Italy on 4 March – following four such journeys last year. He had returned from his previous trip in late December.

The Kuwaiti political scene is undergoing another of its periodic resets, with Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Sabah reappointed as prime minister, following the resignation of his government. He is expected to announce his new cabinet in the coming days, but few significant changes are expected in what will be his third government in eight months.

The Kuwaiti government has proposed cuts to capital spending but sharp rises in current expenditure as part of its budget for fiscal year 2023/24, which starts on 1 April. 

Kuwait has all but left behind its former status as a pre-eminent hub of regional diplomacy, as the leadership is widely perceived to have walked away from its role as mediator in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and its neighbours. Concerned by this apparent inaction on the regional stage, GSN has been asking: why has Kuwait apparently retired from playing such a significant diplomatic role?

Many issues that have divided senior Al-Sabahs seem to have been resolved at a major parley between opposing players in the Kuwaiti ruling family.