Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait who took power as ruler of his small oil-rich state amid political paralysis and strife in 2020, has died, the agency said on Saturday Kuwait State Press. . He was 86 years old.
“With great sadness and sorrow, we offer our condolences to the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab nations, and the peoples of the world,” Kuwait’s royal court said in a statement.
One of Sheikh Nawaf’s first acts was to appoint a half-brother, Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, a veteran intelligence and security tsar, as his crown prince, or heir designate, to replace him in important matters political and state. occasions.
Critics interpreted the appointment of Sheikh Mishal, now 83 – perhaps the world’s oldest crown prince – as a sign that Kuwait would defy the trend of generational change among the Gulf’s ruling families in favor of a risk-averse gerontocracy and committed to continuity. The succession beyond Sheikh Mishal was unclear.
Under the emir’s predecessor, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Kuwait had been an important regional diplomatic player, mediating disputes such as a major rift between Saudi Arabia and its allies on the one hand and the neighboring state of Qatar. As a member of the OPEC oil cartel and the Gulf Regional Cooperation Council, Kuwait is a key ally of America and has been seen as an anchor of moderation.
But those maneuvers appeared to have been overcome in Sheikh Nawaf’s time as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman became an increasingly active player in the Middle East, seeking to reshape his country’s position in the world and positioning himself at the center of Arab diplomacy .
As the region shifted around them, many Kuwaitis complained that, despite their vast oil wealth, their country seemed paralyzed in a time of economic and cultural crisis. stagnation.
At the same time, Kuwait allows far greater freedom of expression than other Gulf countries, and its elected Parliament – while it is often dissolved during the country’s frequent meetings. political whirlwind – is more significant than the powerless advisory councils of the rest of the region.
Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961. Since the world’s sixth largest oil reserve was discovered in the 1930s, Kuwait has accumulated enormous wealth. Although its total population is around four million, only 1.8 million are Kuwaiti citizens. The country’s sovereign wealth fund, the fifth largest in the world, is worth an estimate 803 billion dollars.
Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah was born on 25 June 1937 in Kuwait City, the son of Sheikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who ruled Kuwait from 1921 to 1950. He married Sharifa Sulaiman al-Jasem al-Ghanim , and they have five children: four sons – Ahmad, Faisal, Abdullah and Salem – and a daughter, Sheikha al-Sabah. The eldest son, Ahmad, was appointed Prime Minister of Kuwait in July 2022.
Educated in Kuwait and Britain, Sheikh Nawaf entered public service relatively early in 1962, at the age of 25, as governor of the Hawalli area of Kuwait. In 1978 he became Minister of the Interior before being appointed Minister of Defense 10 years later in 1988. After the invasion of Iraq and his demotion to Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Sheikh Nawaf became the deputy leader of Kuwait, consisting by 26,000 people. National Guard. He returned to Kuwait’s cabinet in 2003 as first deputy prime minister and interior minister.
Over the decades, Kuwait has maintained close ties with Washington, which had been a key military ally – first in reversing Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and then in the 2003 U.S. offensive in Iraq, which used Kuwait as critical stepping stone. Until Sheikh Nawaf was emir, the United States maintained a military presence in Kuwait.
At the time of the Iraqi invasion, Sheikh Nawaf was defense minister.
His rehabilitation after the war occurred slowly.
When his half-brother, Sheikh Sabah, became emir in 2006, however, Sheikh Nawaf was appointed crown prince within days, meaning he was in line for automatic elevation to the rank of emir when Sheikh Sabah died in 2020 at age aged 91 after medical treatment. in the United States. His time as emir was marked by political stalemate and frustration among Kuwait’s lawmakers, compounded by economic problems caused by falling oil prices during the coronavirus outbreak.
Unusually among dynastic Gulf rulers, Kuwait’s royal family has long been challenged by one of the region’s most independent parliaments, which not only makes laws but also has oversight of the government and can question ministers. At the same time, the emir has the power to dissolve Parliament and rule by decree.
Since the inauguration of Parliament in 2023, the political stalemate has eased, with greater cooperation between the two branches of government and the passing of new laws aimed at addressing economic and social issues.
During his reign, Sheikh Nawaf also issued three rounds of pardons aimed at national reconciliation, granting amnesty to many political dissidents, former members of Parliament and members of the ruling family, in an effort that was acclaimed by many in opinion public of Kuwait.
Yasmena AlMulla contributed reporting from Kuwait and Viviana Nereim from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
