Kuwait political standoff continue to escalate

Kuwaiti opposition lawmakers intent on questioning the prime minister were on Tuesday obstructing parliamentary business by occupying ministers’ seats, escalating a standoff between the appointed government and the elected assembly.

The government refused to attend Tuesday’s session after MPs sat in seats reserved for ministers, the speaker said, the second such incident preventing sessions from going ahead.

Frequent rows between the cabinet and assembly have led to successive government reshuffles and dissolutions of parliament over decades, hampering investment and reforms in the OPEC member state.