Kuwait City, Mar 9: Several hundred Kuwaitis demonstrated on Tuesday evening for a change of the Kuwait's prime minister and demanded more political freedoms.
Hundreds of members of the Kuwaiti youth group "Kafi" (Enough) and "Fifth Fence" gathered outside Kuwait parliament building Tuesday evening to demand sweeping changes on how the oil-rich country is run. The initial crowd was limited, but protest organizers had to switch venues after police blockaded the central Safat Square in Kuwait City.
Protesters gathered in a car park they named "The Square of Change" in front of the parliament building and called for Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, to leave.
Demonstrators chanted in Arabic "The people want corruption to go" and "Leave, leave Nasser" as they stood in front of a large banner which read: "A new government, with a new prime minister, with a new approach." One of the protest slogans: "Leave! We Deserve Better!" Others waved banners saying "New country with a new prime minister."
The main target of Kuwait's opposition remains the prime minister, Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah, a nephew of Kuwait's emir. Protesters also seek to break the exclusive grip on power by the ruling family, which holds all major government posts and controls the oil riches in the world's fourth-largest producer. But there are no calls to challenge the standing of the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah.
Kuwait does not allow political parties and its parliament is made up of individuals who form loose blocs.