Kuwait fails to meet again as crisis continues

Kuwait's parliament failed to meet on Tuesday for the second week in a row as a majority of lawmakers boycotted the session amid an ongoing political crisis in the Gulf state. Speaker Jassem al-Kharafi indefinitely adjourned parliament -- which was dissolved in December but reinstated by a court ruling in June -- after only four of the 50-member house and several ministers turned up. He said he will refer the issue to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is expected to dissolve parliament and call for fresh polls, the fifth since June 2006. Opposition MPs boycotted parliament claiming it is illegitimate, while pro-government MPs are angry because the house will most likely be dissolved. The parliament was elected in 2009 and dissolved following youth-led protests but was revived on June 20 when the constitutional court nullified the February polls and scrapped the opposition-dominated new parliament. A date for dissolving the revived parliament remains unknown as the government is reportedly preparing to refer the electoral law to the constitutional court on suspicion that it breaches the constitution. The move has been strongly rejected by the opposition, whose members threatened to stage street protests and boycott any future election if the government sent the law to court. The opposition has demanded that parliament should be swiftly dissolved and fresh elections held. The OPEC member has been rocked by a series of political crises since 2006 during which the government resigned nine times and parliament was dissolved on five occasions.