Kuwait's cabinet ministers have submitted their resignations to the prime minister, the parliament speaker said, in a move that could pave the way for a cabinet reshuffle.

Parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim said he had received "a formal letter from the government that it will not attend Tuesday's parliament session and that the ministers have resigned," state news agency KUNA reported.

"I hope for the sake of Kuwait that Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah will succeed in reshuffling the government," he told a news conference on Monday.

Kuwaiti media reported last week that Al-Sabah was preparing for a major cabinet reshuffle.

The 16-member cabinet was formed in early August following a snap parliamentary poll called after the constitutional court nullified a previous election and scrapped parliament on the grounds of procedural flaws.

Some members of the cabinet have come under fire from lawmakers, with some lawmakers filing nearly a dozen requests to grill members of the government, including the prime minister.

Monday's move comes hours after Kuwait's top court ruled that this year's parliamentary election was legal. It rejected suits that could have led to the dissolution of parliament and a fresh election.

The July election brought in an assembly seen as more amenable to the government than some of its predecessors, raising hopes that economic development projects would move forward in the Gulf Arab state.

The vote was held after reforms to the electoral system which were challenged in court.

Since early 2006, the oil-rich Gulf state has seen ongoing political crises that resulted in the resignation of a dozen cabinets and saw parliament dissolved on six occasions.

Salem al-Ghadouri, the deputy secretary of the Civil Democratic Movement of Kuwait and a political activist, told Al Jazeera: “There is a split as some opposition members are welcoming it while others aren’t, but to us the resignation of the cabinet members is irrelevant as they are not elected but appointed.”

PHOTO CAPTION

Prime Minsiter Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah received a formal letter from the cabinet [Reuters]

Aljazeera