Significant Events
- June 19, 1961- The Independence of Kuwait.
- February 27, 1962- The Preliminary Assembly convened.
- November 11, 1962- The Constitution of Kuwait was signed by the Emir, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah after being passed unanimously in the Assembly.
- January 29, 1963- The First constitutionally elected Assembly convened.
- February 27, 1967- The second elected Assembly convened, allegedly by forged elections.
- August 29, 1976- The first, unconstitutional, dissolution of the Assembly by Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.
- July 3, 1981- The second, unconstitutional, dissolution of the Assembly by Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
- May 4, 1999- Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dissolved the National Assembly on the grounds of a political deadlock between the Government and the Assembly. This time he called for elections within the constitutional period of two months.
- November 23, 1999- The National Assembly rejects an amiri decree by Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to grant women's suffrage in the next elections.
- May 16, 2005- The National Assembly passes women's suffrage law after several attempts since the amiri decree of 1999.
- January 24, 2006- The National Assembly of Kuwait voted ruling emir Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah out of office just moments before a letter of abdication was received from the emir. The Kuwait Cabinet nominated Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, prime minister, to take over as emir.
- January 29, 2006- Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was sworn in as the 15th emir of Kuwait, which was unanimously approved by the National Assembly.
- May 21, 2006- Amidst week long disputes over reform to decrease the number of electoral districts, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dissolves the Assembly calling for new elections June 29 of 2006.
- March 17, 2008- Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad again dissolves the Assembly due to misuse of parliamentary powers by some members. He called for elections May 17, 2008.
- March 18, 2009 - Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad dissolves the Assembly calling for new elections in two months time. This happened immediately following some members' calls to "grill" (see Politics of Kuwait for a definition of grilling) the prime minister, after months of "grilling" and political deadlock. The government resigned on March the 17th.
- May 16, 2009 - The first women MPs were elected into the National Assembly. 4 women won in the 2009 election; Aseel al-Awadhi, Rola Dashti, Massouma al-Mubarak and Salwa al-Jassar
Read more about this topic: National Assembly (Kuwait)
Famous quotes containing the words significant and/or events:
“The middle years of parenthood are characterized by ambiguity. Our kids are no longer helpless, but neither are they independent. We are still active parents but we have more time now to concentrate on our personal needs. Our children’s world has expanded. It is not enclosed within a kind of magic dotted line drawn by us. Although we are still the most important adults in their lives, we are no longer the only significant adults.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“Reporters are not paid to operate in retrospect. Because when news begins to solidify into current events and finally harden into history, it is the stories we didn’t write, the questions we didn’t ask that prove far, far more damaging than the ones we did.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)