Kuwait called on voters to elect members of the national assembly on April 4, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said, citing a decree in the Official Gazette on Saturday.

Kuwait's emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah issued a decree on Feb. 15 to dissolve the parliament, state news agency KUNA reported.

The decree was based on the assembly's "violation of the constitutional principles", KUNA added.

The legislature in Kuwait wields more influence than similar bodies in other Gulf monarchies, and political deadlock has for decades led to cabinet reshuffles and dissolutions of parliament.

(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; editing by Jonathan Oatis)