Kuwaiti cabinet set to resign
Local media said an official announcement is expected to be made following high-level meetings that involved Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait.
Parliamentary sources confirmed to AFP that the cabinet will either resign or Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Nasser al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a nephew of the emir, may carry out an expanded reshuffle.
The move comes after the government failed to secure enough support in parliament to avoid voting Health Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah out of office in a session scheduled for Monday, the sources said.
Sheikh Ahmad, a senior member of the ruling Al-Sabah family, is facing the possibility of being dismissed from office after 10 lawmakers filed a motion of no-confidence against him following a grilling on February 19.
The minister was accused by some opposition MPs of being responsible for "grave medical errors that led to the death of several patients" as well as of financial and administrative wrongdoings.
MPs also charged that the standard of public medical services in Kuwait had deteriorated under Sheikh Ahmad.
No Kuwaiti minister has ever been voted out of office since Parliament was introduced to the oil-rich emirate in 1962, but several ministers were forced to quit to avoid no-confidence votes.
The Kuwaiti cabinet was formed in July following an election which saw the opposition gain majority control in parliament.
The government immediately came under fire from opposition lawmakers for allegedly including controversial figures and for failing to reflect the outcome of the election.
Former information minister Mohammad al-Sanoussi was forced to quit in December after Islamist MP Faisal al-Muslim filed a request to quiz him.
Opposition MPs have also threatened to question several other ministers on various charges, including corruption.