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Kuwait bans unauthorized public rallies

01 December 2011 01:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Kuwaiti interior ministry on Wednesday banned all unauthorized public rallies in an effort to contain the rising tensions and pave the way for a new cabinet, APA reports.

Kuwaiti citizens are not allowed to stage marches or rallies unless a prior approval is obtained, the ministry was quoted as saying by the official KUNA news agency.

The ban came after the country’s ruler appointed Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah as the new prime minister to replace Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah, who resigned Monday amid a fierce infighting between the government and the parliament.

Opposition groups have been staging weekly rallies since February to demand Sheikh Nasser to step down, accusing him of failing to stop the trend of corruption and turn the country’s oil revenue into economic growth.

Protestors have turned a blind eye to a similar ban on public gatherings issued by the ministry in September.

Hundreds of Kuwaiti protestors on Nov. 16 stormed the parliament, a rare incident which the country’s amir called a " black day" in the Gulf Arab emirate’s history.