KUWAIT, 4 March — The Emir of Kuwait Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, approved the formation of the new government of Kuwait, headed by the Prime Minister, Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah.
This comes after a month of the previous governments’ resignation, which was also header by Sabah Al Khaled. The resignation came amid tension between the government and the parliament after a move by the parliament to interrogate the Prime Minister.
On January 5, three MPs, Bader Al Dahoom, Thamer Al Suwait and Khaled Al Moanes, put forth a motion to interrogate the prime minister.
A day later, 38 MPs agreed to the interrogation, setting an unprecedented move as it was the first time in Kuwaiti history that the majority of the MPs favoured a motion before the session even occurs.
The new government led by Sabah Al Khaled saw changes with four new ministers out of 16 appointed ministers, as the new appointments include former MPs and technocrats. One of the new ministers was Abdullah Al Roumi, who will serve as the Deputy Prime Minister, a step seen by observers as a bridge between the government and parliament as he was the deputy speaker of parliament.
Although with no drastic changes, the new government saw a significant change made as long time minister Anas Al Saleh, formally minister of interior affairs and deputy Prime Minister, was not reappointed.
The government continues to be formed by 16 ministers, some of who will be in charge of two ministries. The current government separated Education and Higher Education into two ministries, although traditionally they are merged into one ministry. While there is no law that dictates which ministries are overseen by a single minister, some ministries were traditionally merged together.
Dr Mohammed Al Fares was appointed as the Minister of Oil and Higher Education, while Dr Ali Al Mudaf was reappointed as Minister of Education. Meanwhile, Dr Rana Al Faris continues to serve as the only female minister but was given a new role, appointed as the Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Affairs, along with her previous position as the Minister of Public Works.
The new government took the conditional oath in front of Sheikh Nawaf on Wednesday (4 March). This is the second government to be formed under the new Emir who assumed his position back in September, after the death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.
Source: Gulf News/KUNA
