The unrest that has been worrying Kuwait’s government seemed to have settled or at least calmed down but the jail sentence pronounced against three former MPs for insulting the Emir revived the protest.Street demonstrations have been staged for the past two days at the initiative of opposition leaders and political activists.
Since last summer, when the parliament was dissolved by the king, the opposition has been seizing every opportunity to express its dissatisfaction, boycotting elections in December and using every platform to criticize the irregularities of the ruler’s decrees concerning the parliament.
Falah Al Sawwagh, Khaled Al Tahus and Bader Al Dahum, the former legislators sentenced to jail terms, were actually brought before court for insulting the State ruler after they denounced, at a rally in October, his decrees as unlawful.
Their lawyers announced on Wednesday that they would appeal the verdict.
Meanwhile, the opposition is determined to make the authorities realize that it would not surrender and that it was not scared of any backlash. Major unions and youth movements were asked to revitalize a coalition that is reportedly going to ask for political reforms and an elected prime minister.
In response to the protesters’ demands, the information ministry released a statement saying «If our citizens wish to amend the constitution there is a straightforward legal way to do this.”
