2023-12-17 06:21:48
He becomes the 17th sovereign of the country. Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, 83, was named the country’s new emir on Saturday following the death of his predecessor, amid divisions in the oil-rich Gulf state . “The Kuwaiti cabinet appoints Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Meshaal as Emir of the State of Kuwait,” state television announced.
The royal palace had earlier announced the death, at the age of 86, of his half-brother, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, after three years in power marked by repeated political crises. “The smooth succession process (…) testifies to the maturity of the Kuwaiti political system,” said Abdullah Al Chayji, professor of political science at Kuwait University, on social networks.
40 days of mourning
The new emir, named crown prince in 2020, has spent most of his career in the field of security and intelligence. He notably held the post of Minister of the Interior. He has largely stayed away from the political scene and from the dissensions within the ruling Al-Sabah family, some members of which accuse each other of corruption or conspiracy. This father of 12 children will soon be sworn in before Parliament.
Following the death of the Emir, administrations will be closed for three days and 40 days of mourning have been declared. The new emir will have one year to appoint a new crown prince, who should come from the new generation of the ruling family.
According to the Constitution, the ruler must be a descendant of the nation’s founder, Mubarak Al-Sabah. But a tradition of alternation between the Salem and Jaber family branches has long been observed. A former emir, Sheikh Sabah, of the Jaber branch, put an end to this tradition by appointing as crown prince Sheikh Nawaf, another Jaber, effectively ruling out the Salem branch.
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