Kuwaiti emir appoints crown prince, prime minister
By Omar Hasan
AFP
KUWAIT CITY
Petroleumworld.com 02 08 06
Kuwait's new emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, appointed his
brother and nephew as crown prince and prime minister Tuesday,
giving the top three posts in the Gulf state to his branch of
the ruling family.
In two emiri decrees, Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad
al-Sabah was named as crown prince and Sheikh Nasser Mohammad
al-Ahmad al-Sabah as prime minister.
The move means that the posts of crown prince and prime minister,
split for the first time in 2003, will remain separate as demanded
by opposition groups and MPs making it easier to question and
check the government's performance.
The emir and the two men are from the Al-Jaber branch of the Al-Sabah
ruling family, which by tradition has been alternating the leadership
of the state with the Al-Salem branch for the past 85 years.
There was no immediate comment from members of the Al-Salem branch
on the appointments and whether they were approved by the family.
Under the constitution, the emir has the sole authority to appoint
his crown prince and prime minister.
The appointments follow a crisis of succession in Kuwait that
saw ailing emir Sheikh Saad al-Abdallah al-Sabah voted out of
office after only nine days in power following the death of his
predecessor Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah on January 15.
Sheikh Sabah was later named as new ruler and was confirmed by
parliament on January 29. He was sworn in the same day.
Sheikh Saad, 75, is from the Al-Salem branch of the family that
has been ruling the oil-rich emirate for the past 250 years.
Sheikh Nawaf is the emir's half-brother and has held the post
of first deputy prime minister since 2003, while Sheikh Nasser
has been the minister of the emiri court since 1998.
The crown prince's appointment has to be ratified by parliament
before it comes into effect.
Under the constitution, the new premier has two weeks to form
a government which must first be approved by the emir.
Sheikh Nawaf, 68, became an interior minister for the first time
in 1978. He was later appointed to several other posts including
that of defence, until after the liberation of Kuwait from seven
months of Iraqi occupation in 1991.
In 1994 (eds: correct), he was appointed as deputy head of the
national guard, until 2003, when he was reappointed to the cabinet.
The Swiss-educated Sheikh Nasser, 65, began his career as a diplomat
in 1964.
He was appointed undersecretary of the information ministry in
1979.
He was appointed information minister in 1985 and social affairs
and labour minister in 1988. In 1990, he was named state minister
at the foreign ministry to assist Sheikh Sabah who was then the
minister.
Kuwait sits on 10 percent of proven global oil reserves and has
a native population of just under one million, in addition to
1.9 million foreigners.
AFP
02/07/06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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