His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah issued an Amiri decree on Tuesday, appointing His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah as Prime Minister, and tasking him with forming a new government. Consultations on forming a new Cabinet are reportedly nearing completion and the ministers could be announced in the next day or so.
On Wednesday morning a swearing-in ceremony was held at the Dar Al-Salwa palace where His Highness the Prime Minister took the oath of office in front of His Highness the Amir. Following the oath-taking event, His Highness the Amir asked the prime minister-designate to work for the greater good of the people and the country. He also urged the new prime minister to root out corruption and to crack down on those found to be dishonest. “We have given you responsibility… a big responsibility… fight corruption and the corrupt… Inshallah Allah the Almighty help you for the best interest of the nation and people,” said His Highness the Amir.
For his part, the Prime Minister thanked His Highness the Amir for the trust in assigning him in the new post. “I pledge to you, to do all I can to continue the blessed march under the leadership of Your Highness,” he said. His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled will head the 36th government in the country’s political history and will be Kuwait’s eighth prime minister since the nation’s independence in 1961.
Born in Kuwait on 3 March 1953, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah is the son of Khalid bin Hamad Al-Sabah and Mouza bint Ahmad Al-Sabah — the daughter of Ahmad bin Jabir Al-Ali Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s ruler from 1921 to 1950. He is the brother of former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, and his other brother is the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Ahmad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid is married to Aida bint Salim Al-Ali Al-Sabah, who is the board chairperson of Sheikh Salim Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Award. The couple has two children, Sheikha Al-Jawhara and Sheikh Khalid.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from Kuwait University in 1977, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid joined the ministry of foreign affairs in 1978 as a diplomatic attache. He worked his way up the career ladder in the ministry occupying various posts, including in the Arab Affairs department from 1978-1983 and serving with the permanent Kuwaiti mission at the United Nations in New York from 1983-1989.
He returned to Foreign Ministry in 1989 to serve as Deputy Director Arab Department until 1992, when we was appointed for a three-year term as Director of the Office of the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In 1995, he was appointed as Kuwait’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia and served in the post until 1998. During this period he was also Kuwait’s envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In 1998, he was appointed by a decree as the Chief of National Security Bureau with a ministerial status and served in that post until 2006.
His first appointment to the Cabinet came in 2006, when he was made the minister of social affairs and labor. In October 2007, he was also named as minister of information and then as an advisor in the Amiri Diwan, serving in that post until 2009. In February 2010, he was appointed to the Supreme Petroleum Council. He was also nominated as a member of the National Security Council, Supreme Councils for Planning and Development, and the Environment Public Authority.
In October 2011, he was appointed as minister of foreign affairs and in that post was also the Chairman of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). In a Cabinet reshuffle in 2012, he was additionally given the post of minister of state for cabinet affairs. In 2013, he was named deputy prime minister and foreign minister and appointed as first deputy prime minister and foreign minister in 2014.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid continued as foreign minister in consecutive cabinets and ministerial reshuffles in 2016 and 2017. During his tenure as foreign minister, he was known to add a ‘personal touch’ to Kuwait diplomacy, which was reflected in the evident successes he notched on the regional and international levels. In recognition of his meritorious service as the top diplomat of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid has been awarded the Saudi Arabian Order of King Abdulaziz in 1998 and the British Order of St Michael and St. George in 2012. He also received the Order of the Two Niles (First Class) from the Republic of Sudan, and is the Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion by the President of the Republic of Senegal in 2015.
On 18 November, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid was ordered to take over temporary responsibility of Ministry of Defense following the incumbent’s removal by His Highness the Amir. A day later, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid was invited to form the 36th government and to head it as the country’s eighth prime minister; he was also accorded the title of His Highness.
In the meantime, political circles are awash with rumors that the new government will include at least five new ministers. Among the new ministers likely to be appointed, three ministers to occupy the posts of Ministers of Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs will in all probability be from the royal family, while two more could be from among sitting parliamentarians.
Some of potential nominees from the royal family are Sheikh Abdullah Nawaf Al-Ahmad as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense; Sheikh Thamer Ali Sabah Al-Salem as Minister of Interior; and either Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Muhammad or Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali for the post of Foreign Minister. In addition, the finance ministry is likely to see a new minister while the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh will most probably retain his post. Other ministers in the incumbent Cabinet are expected to witness a reshuffling of their existing posts.
But the question in the minds of everyone is, how likely is the new cabinet to win the trust and support of the National Assembly. In the past, nearly all aborted parliaments have been undone by the threat of a vote of confidence following interpellations against ministers by parliamentarians.
The fate of the yet-to-be formed Cabinet could also rest with lawmakers. Anticipating such an outcome, His Highness the Amir in his speech to the nation last Monday, expressed the hope that the new government would meet the aspirations of the Kuwaiti people, which he added is a matter that required “serious cooperation” between the government, parliament and people.
His Highness the Amir urged the people to “be aware to interests of our dear nation, and protection of its security and stability, stand united against whoever tries to undermine national unity.” He added that he was confident the Kuwaiti people were capable of overcoming all hardships and moving towards national unity and achievements.
The Times Report
