KUWAIT CITY, Aug 4: Lawmakers called on the government to hold accountable social-networking users who insulted Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein, grandsons of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Shiite MP Adnan Abdulsamad said the continuous assaults on religious symbols is creating severe sectarian tension and called on authorities not to remain silent on these incidents.

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), furthermore, reported that the Amiri Diwan condemned the heinous assaults on Friday and instructed immediate action against those who carried out the attacks.

Deputy Minister of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah said the Amiri Diwan condemned the assaults, posted on social media websites, against Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein which aroused anger of Muslims. He said the Amiri Diwan instructed immediate action to be taken against those who committed this assault. The Amiri Diwan, said Al-Sabah, was fully confident in the rational of the Kuwaiti people and that such practices would not undermine the national unity nor incite sedition.

Meanwhile, another parliament session is scheduled for Tuesday to swear-in the new Cabinet despite high expectations of an almost non-existent turnout as the like the previous session. Speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Kharafi had assured that the matter will then be referred to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The Cabinet has resolved to dissolve the 2009 Assembly but will also study the possibility of amendments to the electoral system, therefore, creating political friction with opposition MPs who describe the move as a constitutional coup. The opposition is calling for “a popular government” and claims that a campaign led by the Majority Bloc, dubbed “the people are the source of power” to boycott the next elections if constituencies change, has garnered more that 6,000 signatures online. MP Musallam Al-Barrak is of the opinion that 70 percent of the Kuwaiti population are against electoral amendments.

On their part, a number of pro-government MPs object to the parliament dissolution or the appeasement of the opposition by refraining from any electoral changes. Opposition critic and writer Nabil Al-Fadl, who was a member of the annulled 2012 Assembly, wondered why the executive authority has not referred the matter to the Constitutional Court for a decision and urged it “not to sell the future of Kuwait’s children to appease the opposition”.

HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah is in negotiations with the Majority Bloc, according to news reports. Options to ensure the correct constitutional procedures are applied to future parliament elections include the Constitutional Court and emergency decrees.