Key change likely in Kuwaiti ruling family

Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah is strongly expected to become the new crown prince in case Crown Prince Shaikh Sa'ad Al Abdullah Al Salem Al Sabah relinquishes his position, analysts said.

"Shaikh Sa'ad used to be active and we cannot forget his long political history or his call to activate the internal front during the Iraqi invasion.

Moreover, he is loved by all Kuwaitis. But we should admit that Shaikh Sa'ad's state of health does not enable him to perform the minimum tasks of his position," analyst Dr Ayed Al Manna told Gulf News.

According to the constitution, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister are appointed by the Emir. Al Manna told Gulf News in case parliament refuses the person nominated, the Emir recommends three descendants of Mubarak Al Sabah (the Emir who ruled Kuwait from 1896 to 1915) and parliament selects one of them.

Analyst and former minister of oil, Ali Al Baghli, said this issue came to light when Shaikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah, head of the National Guard, recently called for a three-member committee to assist the Emir and Crown Prince.

"Shaikh Salem's proposal is not constitutional and in the case of forming such a committee, its members should not necessarily be from the ruling family," said Al Manna.

Al Manna thinks the Al Salem branch of the ruling family could have a feeling that they should play a positive role in the ruling process.

"Shaikh Salem Al Ali is the eldest of the Salems and the only one who is qualified to lead the branch, particularly since Shaikh Sa'ad's health has worsened," added Al Manna.

"Shaikh Sabah is the strongest candidate to replace Shaikh Sa'ad; however, I doubt that Shaikh Sa'ad will relinquish his position," Baghli told Gulf News.

"I think this news is mere rumour," he added

A ruling family source has told AFP that the 76-year-old Prime Minister would replace the current Crown Prince, 75, who has been having medical treatment in London for the past two months.

The agency added that Shaikh Sabah had won the "complete trust" of his half-brother, His Highness Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti Constitution stipulates that only male descendants of Emir Mubarak Al Kabeer can become head of state.

By tradition, descendants of his two sons, Jaber Al Mubarak and Salem Al Mubarak, alternate holding the position.

The current Emir is from the Jaber branch and the Crown Prince is from the Salem branch.

However, the tradition has not always been stuck to rigorously. Between 1950 and 1977 two emirs from the Al Salem branch, Abdullah Al Salem and Sabah Al Salem, ruled in succession, AFP added.

"It's better for the Kuwaiti people not to discuss the ruling family problems as it is an internal affair among family members," analyst and Kuwait University professor Ahmad Al Baghdadi told Gulf News.

Al Baghdadi added the Emir knows well what is happening in the ruling family and he is the only person who decides how to deal with such matters. The KU professor, who failed to predict what could happen in the coming few days, criticised Shaikh Salem Al Ali's public proposal.

The writer is a journalist based in Kuwait