Kuwaiti opposition hopes new emir permits political “detente”

Kuwaiti opposition figures proposed electoral reforms and a pardon for dissidents in recent meetings with the prince who has since become the new emir, they said, seeking to improve stormy ties with the government that have sometimes flared into unrest.

The opposition figures, both liberals and Islamists, presented the proposals to Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah last month while he was still crown prince and before the death on Tuesday of late ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad, they said.