Sat Apr 2, 3:54 pm ET

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – Kuwaiti youth activists on Saturday began collecting signatures for a petition to the Gulf state ruler against renaming the outgoing prime minister to head a new government, an organiser said.

"It is a campaign to collect signatures on a petition calling against reappointing the same premier again," Mohammed al-Bulaihees, coordinator of the youth group Kafi -- "enough" in Arabic -- told AFP.
"It will continue for two days after which the petition will be handed to the emir," said Bulaihees as nine centres were opened across Kuwait to collect signatures.

The premier, Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 71, submitted his government's resignation on Thursday after opposition MPs filed to question three senior ministers over allegations of corruption and poor performance.

The resignation came amid rising sectarian tension between the Sunni majority and Shiite minority over Shiite-led protests in Gulf partner Bahrain. The government said the tension threatened national unity.
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah accepted the resignation but asked Sheikh Nasser, his nephew, to continue as a caretaker premier.

The emir has not so far assigned anyone to form the new government.
"We believe that Sheikh Nasser has failed in his six cabinets and reappointing him will only prolong the ongoing political crisis in the country. We need a new premier," Bulaihees said.
Since being appointed in early 2006, Sheikh Nasser has battled the opposition in parliament almost non-stop, and was forced to resign six times.

In January, he narrowly survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote after a grilling in parliament for allegedly breaching the constitution and suppressing freedom.
Opposition MPs have warned that if Sheikh Nasser is reappointed, they will file to question him in parliament immediately.

Islamist MP Khaled al-Sultan said on Saturday Kuwait needs a new premier capable of confronting what he described a serious threat from Shiite Iran.
On Tuesday, a Kuwaiti court condemned two Iranians and a Kuwaiti, all soldiers, to death and two others to life terms for spying on the emirate's army and US military.

A number of pro-government MPs have called Sheikh Nasser to be reappointed, describing him as a reformist.
Kuwait, OPEC's fifth largest producer, has a native population of 1.1 million in addition to 2.4 million foreign residents. It has amassed about $300 billion from oil, but development remained stalled over political disputes.