Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal named Emir

Shafaq News/ Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah was named the country's Emir after the death of Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah at 86 on Saturday.

"Kuwait's cabinet names Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Meshal … Emir of the State of Kuwait," the Kuna news agency reported.

Named Crown Prince in 2020, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah has been Kuwait's de facto ruler since 2021, when his frail predecessor handed over most his duties.

Sheikh Meshal, 83, spent much of his career helping build the Gulf Arab state's security and defence apparatus. He has been deputy chief of the National Guard since 2004 and was head of state security for 13 years after joining the Interior Ministry in the 1960s.

Sheikh Nawaf became emir in September 2020 following the death of his brother, Sheikh Sabah, who had ruled for more than a decade and shaped the state's foreign policy for over 50 years.

Sheikh Nawaf was seen by diplomats as a consensus builder even though his reign was marked by an intense standoff between the government and elected parliament, which had hindered key structural reforms in the oil rich Gulf state. In recent months, consensus returned between the government and the parliament.

Kuwait, holder of the world's seventh-largest oil reserves, borders Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and lies across the Gulf from Iran. It was invaded and occupied by Iraq in 1990, sparking the first Gulf war several months later in 1991 when the United States and other nations defeated Iraq and liberated Kuwait.

Since he took over in 2020, Sheikh Nawaf maintained a foreign policy that balanced ties with those neighbours, whilst domestically eight governments were formed under his rule.

Under Kuwait's constitution, the crown prince automatically becomes Emir but assumes power only after taking an oath in parliament. The new Emir has up to a year to name an heir.

Analysts and diplomats say that Sheikh Nawaf, and his crown prince Sheikh Meshal, both appeared to align Kuwait more closely with regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Before handing over most of his constitutional duties to his designated heir, Sheikh Nawaf tried to secure a detente on the domestic political scene, including by issuing an amnesty pardoning dissidents that had been long-sought by opposition figures.

But the stalemate continued, leaving Sheikh Meshal to try to put an end to the political bickering this year by dissolving parliament and holding early elections in June.

Kuwait bans parliamentary parties but is still one of the region's most politically liberal states, with a voluble political debate and the region's most powerful elected legislative assembly that includes Sunnis, Shiites, liberals, and Islamists.