Kuwait's government resigns to make way for new cabinet

Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah speaks during a meeting of the General Assembly on the Culture of Peace at the United Nations in New York November 12, 2008.

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's ruler accepted the government's resignation on Monday, the state news agency KUNA said, a step designed to make way for a new cabinet in the Gulf Arab state after parliamentary elections boycotted by the opposition.

The election on Saturday was the second this year in the oil-producing nation, where a series of assemblies have collapsed due to a long-running power struggle between the parliament and the cabinet, in which the emir's ruling family holds the top posts.

"The emir accepted the resignation of the government," KUNA said in an SMS news alert, adding that the ministers would serve in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet was formed.

Under the constitution, a new government must be formed before the first session of the new parliament. Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said the new parliament would convene on December 16, KUNA said.

Sheikh Sabah is expected to pick his prime minister next week, who will in turn form a cabinet that will be announced on December 14, said Kuwait's al-Watan daily, which is owned by a member of the ruling family.

More than half the members of parliament elected on Saturday are newcomers to the 50-seat National Assembly. The chamber is expected to be more cooperative with the government than its predecessor because of the opposition boycott of the vote, and protests that divided the U.S.-allied, OPEC member state.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Mark Heinrich)