His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Dar Yamamah His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah who handed him the proposed names for the new cabinet formation.

Amir receives PM, approves new Cabinet formation

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah yesterday announced his new Cabinet which includes three opposition MPs who had publicly said they were ready to vote against the prime minister. The move is likely to strengthen the position of the prime minister against a highly fragmented opposition and is expected to make it difficult to vote the premier out of office during grillings.

The three MPs who became ministers are Hamad Rouh El-Din, minister of information, Mohammad Al-Rajhi, minister of state for National Assembly affairs, and Mubarak Al-Arou, minister of social affairs and minister of state for housing affairs. With the three ministers, the Cabinet now includes four MPs, with the fourth being Essa Al-Kandari, who retained his post as minister of awqaf and Islamic affairs. This is the largest number of lawmakers in a Cabinet for many years.

The new Cabinet line-up includes nine new faces, with new ministers of interior, information, health, public works, justice, finance, social affairs, commerce and National Assembly affairs. Among the leading ministers who were not retained is former interior minister Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali Al-Sabah, who was replaced by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Sabah, a former defense minister, who is also a member of the ruling family.

Abdullah Al-Roumi, a veteran lawmaker, was replaced by Jamal Al-Jalawi as justice minister, while health minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah, who played a pivotal role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, was replaced by Khaled Al-Saeed, a senior health ministry official who is directly involved in efforts against the coronavirus.

Finance minister Khalifa Hamada was replaced by Abdulwahab Al-Rushaid, head of Kuwait Economic Society, while Rouh El-Din replaced Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi as information minister. Ali Al-Mousa was appointed as public works minister, replacing Rana Al-Fares, while Fahad Al-Shuraian was appointed as commerce minister, replacing Abdullah Al-Salman.

The ministers of defense, foreign affairs, oil and higher education were also retained, in addition to Rana Al-Fares who was moved from public works to municipal affairs. Mohammad Al-Fares was retained as oil minister and was also appointed as minister of electricity and water, while Ali Al-Mudhaf was retained as minister of education.

Based on the presence of four MPs in the Cabinet, the number of elected MPs who can vote on no-confidence motions against ministers has come down to 46. According to the constitution, for the no-confidence motion to pass, it needs a simple majority of elected MPs who are not ministers, which is 24 now.

Earlier yesterday, HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Dar Yamamah HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah, who handed him the proposed names in the new Cabinet. HH the Amir approved the formation and wished HH the Prime Minister the best in serving the people and residents of Kuwait. He hoped that the executive and legislative powers would cooperate for the sake of Kuwait's development and welfare.