A picture shows Kuwait’s national assembly as seen from the sea side in Kuwait City on November 5, 2106.

The Kuwaiti cabinet on Monday submitted its resignation to the emir of Kuwait following snap parliamentary polls, an official statement said.

The move falls in line with the emirate’s constitution which requires the cabinet to step down after polls.

After accepting the resignation, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will either reappoint the outgoing premier, Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, or name another senior member of the ruling family to form a cabinet.

The new cabinet must be formed before parliament holds its first session within the next two weeks.

The emir dissolved the previous parliament due to a dispute over hiking petrol prices.

Voters dealt a heavy blow to candidates from the outgoing parliament, with more than half of them failing to win seats in the new assembly.

Only one woman was elected and Kuwait’s Shiite Muslim minority was reduced to six seats from nine in the previous house.

Unlike other Arab states in the Gulf, Kuwait has an elected parliament with powers to hold ministers to account, even though senior members of the ruling family hold all the top cabinet posts.

[vuukle]