KUWAIT, 11 April 2005 — Kuwait’s ruler yesterday accepted the resignation of the health minister ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote that had sparked fears of the assembly’s dissolution, officials said.
Kuwait’s ruler Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah “accepted Health Minister Mohammad Al-Jarallah’s resignation,” the Council of Ministers confirmed in a statement after its weekly session.
Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah will assume responsibility for the portfolio in place of Mohammad Al-Jarallah until a new health minister is named.
Yesterday’s session also named Justice Minister Ahmad Baqer as minister of state for municipal affairs, a new portfolio.
Jarallah became the third member of the current Cabinet effectively forced to quit by MPs. He submitted his resignation on Tuesday after 10 parliament members tabled a no-confidence vote accusing him of squandering public funds and mismanagement.
The 10 MPs tabled the no-confidence request after Jarallah faced tough grilling last Monday on other issues such as deterioration of health services. Jarallah denied the charges.
The no-confidence motion was a serious challenge by the assembly to the government since Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah formed the Cabinet in July 2003.
The political impasse fuelled wide speculation that the outspoken Parliament may be dissolved.
