The parliament has the power to dismiss the prime minister or anyone of his cabinet through a series of constitutional procedures. According to the constitution, nomination of a new emir by the ruling family has to be confirmed by the National Assembly. If he couldn't win the majority of the votes, the ruling family must select 3 candidates, one of whom is to be chosen by the parliament. The parliament known as the Majlis Al-Umma (National Assembly), consists of 50 members, who are chosen in elections held every four years. Government ministers, according to the Constitution of the State, are given automatic membership in the parliament.

Prior to 2005, only 15% of the Kuwaiti citizen population was allowed to vote, with all women, "recently naturalised" citizens (less than 30 years of citizenship), and members of the armed forces excluded. On May 16, 2005, Parliament permitted women's suffrage by a 35-23 vote, subject to Islamic law and effective for the 2006 Parliamentary Election. The decision could raise Kuwait's voter rolls from 139,000 to as many as 339,000 if all eligible women register; the total number of Kuwaitis is estimated at more than 960,000. Recently, the former Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah announced the appointment of Dr Massouma Mubarak as planning minister and minister of state for administrative development affairs. The appointment of a woman as a cabinet minister was a big breakthrough in Kuwaiti political system and it makes Kuwait the third country in the conservative Persian Gulf Arab countries to have a woman cabinet minister.