Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah gave no date for the election but under the constitution it must be held within 60 days of parliament’s dissolution.

The emir said in a decree read out on state television that the decision to dissolve parliament came after it became difficult to achieve progress.

“This required going back to the nation to choose its representatives in order to overcome present difficulties,” the decree said.

The OPEC-member has been locked in a long-running political battle between the government, dominated by the ruling al Sabah family, and the 50-member elected parliament.

The crisis mainly revolved around allegations by opposition parliament members against former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, a nephew of the emir, of mismanagement and corruption — charges which he denied.

“I think it (parliament’s dissolution) will at least open up a chance of having a new beginning with a new chance of cooperation — that’s a possibility,” said Ghanem Al-Najar, professor of political science at Kuwait University.

“If the prime minister and the new government take into consideration the resentment and the dissatisfaction within the public sphere — I’m sure this is going to move forward.”

Oil wealth and a generous welfare state have enabled Kuwait to escape the unrest that ousted heads of state in other Arab countries.

But the OPEC member last month caught a whiff of the Arab Spring when opposition lawmakers and protesters stormed parliament to demand the resignation of Sheikh Nasser.

Their request to question him had been blocked by the cabinet in a move the opposition said was unconstitutional.

The crisis forced Sheikh Nasser and his cabinet to step down, and the emir has since named outgoing Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, another member of the ruling family, as the new prime minister.

Sheikh Nasser had lurched from crisis to crisis with parliament since he first became prime minister in 2006, forming seven cabinets before the emir decided to replace him.

The previous cabinet resigned in March to avoid parliamentary questioning of three ministers, the main weapon the elected body has against the government.

Kuwait is a key US ally where Washington hopes to station some troops withdrawn from Iraq after eight years, as part of a plan to bolster its presence in the Gulf.