Dubai: Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Kuwai. He has been tasked him with forming the new Cabinet, Kuwait News Agency reported.
Sheikh Sabah’s appointment comes following an Emiri decree that was issued yesterday. Earlier this month, Kuwait’s government submitted its resignation to the ruling Emir, a move which along with an amnesty pardoning political dissidents could help end a standoff with opposition lawmakers that has hindered fiscal reform.
Born in Kuwait in 1953, Sheikh Sabah earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kuwait University in 1977. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 1978 as a diplomatic attache, serving in the Arab affairs department from 1978 to 1983, and with the permanent Kuwaiti mission at the UN from 1983 to 1989.
Sheikh Sabah also served as Kuwait’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Envoy at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 1995 to 1998, during which he participated in the GCC Ministerial Council’s meetings.
He has also been awarded with the Order of King Abdulaziz of First Class in 1998 by Saudi Arabia. In 1998, he was appointed by a decree as the Chief of National Security Bureau with a ministerial status. Sheikh Sabah was also the Minister Social Affairs and Labour between July 2006 and March 2007, and Minister of Information between May 2008 and January 2009.
In 2011, he was appointed as Foreign Minister, and later as Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs in February 2012. In December 2012, he was re-assigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Emiri decree
In January 2014, an Emiri decree ordered the appointment of Sheikh Sabah as First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. In December 2016, he was re-assigned as Foreign Minister, and appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in December 2017.
On November 19, 2019, Sabah became the 8th prime minister of Kuwait through Emiri decree after the resignation of his predecessor Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah.
In May 2021, Sabah spoke in favour of a new Kuwaiti law requiring 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 Kuwaiti dinars for anyone supporting Israel in any way, including social media.
