The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, died on Saturday December 16 at the age of 86, the emirate’s court announced, after a three-year mandate marked by repeated political conflicts at the head of this oil-rich Arab-Persian Gulf country.
“With great sadness, we mourn the death of Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait”, said a statement broadcast on Kuwaiti state television. State television had previously interrupted its programs and broadcast verses from the Koran.
The Crown Prince of Kuwait, Mechaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, aged 83, was appointed new emir of the country by the Kuwaiti cabinet, state television then announced.
In November, Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was admitted to hospital “due to an urgent health problem”, according to the official KUNA news agency, which did not give details of his illness. He was later listed in stable condition. Given his age, his health was often a concern during his tenure.
Accusations of corruption
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was named crown prince in 2006 by his half-brother, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and took over as emir upon his death in age 91, in September 2020.
A rich oil state in the Gulf, Kuwait has been plunged for several years into a deep crisis between the executive and legislative powers which is undermining hopes of reforms.
The disappearance of Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the advanced age of his successor increase uncertainties in the country shaken by divisions within the Al-Sabah family itself, some members of which accuse others of corruption or conspiracy.
Kuwait’s Constitution states that the ruler must be a descendant of the nation’s founder, Mubarak Al-Sabah. A tradition of alternation between the Al-Salem and Al-Jaber family branches has long been observed. The former Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, put an end to this tradition by appointing as crown prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, another Al-Jaber therefore, thus sidelining the Al-Salem branch.
An active Parliament
Kuwait, a conservative country where sovereign functions are concentrated in the hands of the Al-Sabah family, nevertheless hosts the most active and powerful Parliament in the Gulf.
With some of the largest oil reserves in the world, Kuwait is an extremely rich state where instability has slowed down reforms and infrastructure development, while some are underway in its neighbors, who are much more politically locked down. , Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the lead.
The permanent standoff between the executive and parliamentarians has resulted in a waltz of governments and the dissolution of the National Assembly on numerous occasions over the last ten years. Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has usually remained withdrawn from political life in favor of the crown prince, Mechaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who was appointed to succeed him.