Kuwait looks to capitalise on emir’s bold move

Emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah’s dissolution of parliament gives him more power to shape decisions on the country’s oil and gas future

The suspension on 11 May of Kuwait’s National Assembly, the Mideast Gulf region’s only fully elected chamber, hands Emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah full control over new legislation. It represents a bold step to shake up a dysfunctional political system that has left Kuwait struggling to keep pace with other Middle Eastern oil producers.   Analysts see the move as clearing the path for domestic energy projects to make progress, following years in which MPs subjected ambitious expansion schemes to intense scrutiny. MPs have repeatedly thwarted government efforts to encourage foreign investment into large oilfields. Project Kuwait, an attempt in the early 2000s to allow IOCs to develop he