By B Izzak

KUWAIT: His Highness Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday won a unanimous approval of the National Assembly as the new crown prince of Kuwait a day after he was nominated by His Highness the Amir. Sheikh Mishal then took the oath in the assembly and pledged to safeguard the interests of the country, its constitution, democratic life and popular participation.

Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah congratulated the new crown prince and praised the "smooth and quiet" transition of power in the country after the passing of late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah last week. The assembly also held its final session of the current term, but an Amiri Decree was issued to call the assembly for a supplementary session to start on October 20 in order to compensate for the loss of time mainly during the coronavirus crisis.

It was not immediately known for how long the session will continue but it is not likely to last for long because parliamentary elections are due to be held either late November or early December. A draft law to cut the number of expats in the country and proposals to provide solutions for the problem of over 100,000 bedoons or stateless people are likely to top the list of topics expected to be debated during the supplementary session.

During the closing session, the His Highness the Prime Minister warned that recent indicators from the spread of the coronavirus in the country are alarming. "What we have witnessed in the past few days of not applying health guidelines strictly is alarming," Sheikh Sabah said. "The death rate has increased and so was the number of admissions into intensive care units and occupancy of hospital beds," he noted.

His Highness the Prime Minister said that these indicators are alarming and warned that the government will implement necessary health measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.