Kuwaiti electricity minister named acting oil minister

KUWAIT, June 30 (Reuters) Kuwait's Electricity and Water Minister Mohammad al-Olaim was named acting oil minister of the OPEC producer today after the resignation of Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah, the parliament speaker said.

Sheikh Ali, a member of the ruling family, and Communications and Parliament Affairs Minister Sherida al-Moasherji tendered their resignations amid a political standoff between the US-allied government and parliament.

''We have learned that the resignations of the oil minister and communications minister have been accepted,'' MP Waleed al-Tabtabai told reporters in parliament.

Parliament Speaker Jassem al-Kharafi confirmed the resignations and said that Olaim had been appointed acting oil minister. Housing Affairs Minister Abdulwahed al-Awadhi was named acting communications and parliament affairs minister, he told reporters.

Changes in senior positions at the Oil Ministry do not usually affect the overall energy policy as final decisions are made by a state committee.

Kuwait's government has been locked in a battle with parliament for months, delaying key legislation in the world's seventh largest oil exporter.

On Monday, deputies scheduled a no-confidence vote against Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah for July 9, escalating the conflict.

''With the resignation of the oil minister there will be no special session for the no-confidence vote on July 9 and the session will be used to discuss budgets of state organisations,'' Kharafi said.

Lawmakers had questioned Sheikh Ali for nine hours over his fitness for office and 10 MPs decided they should seek to remove him from office.

The row over Sheikh Ali erupted after the minister told al-Qabas newspaper that he had sought advice from Sheikh Ali al-Khalifa al-Sabah, a former minister who was once investigated over a graft scandal.

The minister had apologised to parliament but said he had not allowed anyone to influence Kuwait's oil policy.

It was not immediately clear why Moasherji, an Islamist, had stepped down.

Kuwait's parliament has a history of challenging the government, unusual in a region comprised of autocratic rulers.

The country's ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who has the last say in politics, has urged MPs to let the government get on with its work just four months after the previous cabinet resigned amid pressure on the health minister.

Kuwait's rulers have dissolved parliament several times since it was set up in 1963.

REUTERS SBC RK1845