The prime minister would have to hand in the resignation of his cabinet to the oil-exporting Gulf Arab country's ruler before it can come into effect.

'First deputy premier and defence minister and the rest of ministers have submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah,' state minister for cabinet affairs Faisal al-Hajji said.

A number of MPs said the prime minister will submit the cabinet's resignation to deputy emir and crown prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Al-ahmad al-Sabah as the ruler is out of the country.

The emir has faced calls recently to sack the government, appoint a new premier and hold early parliamentary polls in the emirate, which has undergone a series of political crises in recent years.

Leading liberal MP Ahmad al-Mulaifi last week said the government should go, and called for the reform of the ruling Al-Sabah family. He said the premier, a a nephew of the emir, had failed to carry out reforms and resolve the nation's crises.

Sheikh Nasser was appointed premier for the first time two years ago after Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah ascended to the helm following a power struggle.

Since then, Kuwait has undergone a series of political crises that forced the resignation of three governments, dissolving parliament and holding fresh elections in June 2006 and several ministers being grilled by MPs.

Kuwait, the fourth largest Opecoducer, is experiencing sectarian tensions after activists from the Shiite minority held a rally to mourn former Lebanon's Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh, killed in a car bombing last month.-- AFP