Kuwait Finance Minister quits after opposition push

Monday, 28 May 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Kuwait’s Finance Minister resigned last week after opposition lawmakers accused him in parliament of failing to deal with alleged financial irregularities in his departments.

Mustapha al-Shamali, who served as finance minister from 2007 and has worked in the ministry for more than four decades, denied allegations of mismanagement on his watch.

The 69-year-old’s resignation marked fresh political discord between the government and parliament, which was only elected three months ago. He is likely to be replaced by an interim finance minister until a more permanent solution is found. Political upheaval is not new to the major oil producer, which ushered in its fourth parliament in six years after a snap election in February. Opposition candidates, mainly Isla-mists, won a majority of seats in that ballot, which was triggered by another political row between the government and parliament.

The infighting has held up decisions on large investment projects in the OPEC member state and put off foreign investors, analysts and bankers say.

Shamali denied any wrongdoing and accused lawmakers of self-interested political gain.

The questioning session in parliament “deviated from serving the public interest and is for revenge and settling scores with the finance minister and some of his aides”, he said, according to state news agency KUNA.

Opposition MPs had threatened Shamali with a vote of no confidence after the questioning session, which lasted several hours. He chose to resign in front of parliament instead.

The alternative could have been for the whole government to resign, leading to the dissolution of parliament and another snap election.