Thousands of Kuwaitis demonstrated Saturday to demand dissolving the new parliament elected last week despite a massive boycott as the oil-rich Gulf state plunged into political stalemate.

"This parliament is illegitimate, this (electoral law) amendment is illegal," chanted the protesters, who included a large number of women and children, as they marched on the key seaside Arabian Gulf Road.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah on Wednesday asked the outgoing prime minister to form a new government following polls boycotted by the opposition, state media said, after a second night of street protests.

Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling Al-Sabah family, submitted the resignation of his five-month-old cabinet on Monday, as required by the constitution after weekend polls.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Monday accepted the resignation of the cabinet which quit as part of a routine process after election, the official KUNA news agency reported.

The ruler also asked outgoing Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah and other ministers to continue as a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed.

The opposition vowed Sunday to press on with protests until a newly elected parliament is abolished and a disputed law scrapped, a day after Kuwait's Shiite minority emerged as main victors of a largely-boycotted vote.

"We will continue with our national and peaceful protests under the umbrella of the constitution to bring the downfall of the new parliament," Islamist opposition leader and former MP Faisal al-Muslim told Agence France Presse.

Three women were elected to Kuwait's new parliament as the house now includes as many as 30 new faces following the polls that reportedly saw a 38.8 percent voter turnout.

Three women were elected to the new parliament compared to four in 2009, according to results released by the National Election Commission.

Polls closed in Kuwait's second general election in 10 months, with the opposition claiming its boycott campaign had succeeded and that voter turnout was very low.

Polls closed at 8:00 pm (17:00 GMT). Vote counting began immediately and results are expected before midnight.

Tens of thousands of supporters of the Kuwaiti opposition marched in the capital Friday on the eve of election to urge voters to boycott the polls in protest against a change to the electoral law.

Chanting slogans "we are boycotting" and "the people want the repeal of the amendment", the demonstrators marched peacefully after authorities issued a permit unlike the previous protests which turned violent.

Kuwait on Monday issued a permit to allow the opposition to stage a demonstration on the eve of a disputed general election, the Interior Ministry and activists said.

"We found the request submitted by the organizers fulfilled conditions set by the interior ministry and accordingly we issued the necessary license," Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Adel al-Hashash told a news conference.

A criminal court on Sunday sentenced an Iraqi fisherman to death for killing a Kuwaiti coast guard in a January 2011 shootout.

Taha Mahmud Sabhan was handed the sentence for the death of Abdul Rahman al-Enezi after the Iraqi fishing vessel crossed into the emirate's territorial waters.

A Kuwaiti court on Thursday freed three Twitter users on bail after detaining them for nine days for allegedly insulting the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state, a rights activist said.

A fourth tweeter however remained in detention as his case will be heard by a court on Sunday, the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad al-Humaidi, said on his Twitter account.