Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jabr al-Sabah, the emir, reappointed Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the prime minister, on April 5th and has asked him to form his seventh cabinet. The new government was due to be announced in the first week of May, but is not expected to take office officially until May 17th, the date of the next regular session of the National Assembly (parliament). Some members of parliament (MPs) have criticised what they see as a delay to the formation of the new cabinet, saying that it has hampered the functioning of parliament. Prolonging the appointment process will also serve to limit the time available for further clashes between the government and the National Assembly, which begins its four-month long summer recess in July.

The previous government resigned on March 31st, making it the sixth time the cabinet has stood down since the prime minister was first appointed in 2006. The government submitted its resignation in protest against a spate of interpellation motions filed by MPs against ministers, including over their handling of the escalating political situation in Bahrain. In particular, three members of the royal family were targeted: Sheikh Ahmed Fahad al-Sabah, deputy prime minister for economic affairs and housing and development minister; Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah, deputy prime minister and foreign minister; and Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah al-Sabah, the oil and information minister. It is likely that many of the same ministers, particularly those from the ruling family, will again assume positions in the new cabinet.

In recent months the campaign against Sheikh Nasser Mohammed in particular has intensified not only from opposition MPs, but also from youth groups, which are continuing to call for his removal. Although the requests to question the former government were dropped following its resignation, the opposition has said that it intends to grill any former cabinet ministers that are reappointed, as well as the prime minister himself. One MP, Abdurrahman al-Anjari, remarked that the new government would essentially be "dead before it's even born" if the prime minister remains in place, pointing to Sheikh Nasser Mohammed's narrow victory in a no-confidence vote held in January. The emir's decision to reinstate the outgoing prime minister will result in continuing tensions between the government and the legislature, stymieing policymaking and leading to the possible dissolution of parliament before the scheduled election in May 2013.