This article attempts a rereading of the events surrounding the parliament of 1938, which thus far have been more discussed than analysed. Older literature on 1938 tends to assess it from an economic perspective, focusing on the struggle between sheikhs and merchants in particular and disregarding, in one sense or another, the “prevailing forces” and their role in the establishment and dissolution of the parliament in 1938 and 1939. This article sees to address this lacuna.