Kuwait Parliament Stormed

Thousands of Kuwaitis stormed their country's parliament today, calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Nasser al-Sabah:

"Thousands of Kuwaitis have stormed parliamentary buildings after police and elite forces beat protesters.

"The protesters marched earlier on Wednesday to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah's home to demand his resignation, an opposition MP said...

"The demonstrators broke open the parliament's gates and entered the main chamber, where they sang the national anthem and left after a few minutes.

"The police had used batons to prevent protesters from marching to the residence of the prime minister, a senior member of the ruling family, after staging a rally outside parliament...

"Some activists said they will continue to camp outside parliament until the prime minister is sacked."

Kuwaitis have been protesting since March over a corruption scandal which has already led to the resignation of the foreign minister. Kuwaitis are not new to protests, having staged a successful 2006 "Orange Revolution" for election reform. The current prime minister's saga shows the edges of Kuwaiti democracy, in that parliament has been inhibited from supervising him as a member of the royal family. The current political crisis has been accompanied by a wave of public sector strikes, but I haven't been able to tell if the two are related.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)