Kuwait’s prime minister appointed his fourth cabinet in two years, naming a new finance minister and including four lawmakers in the lineup.
Event Location
Kuwait, Kuwait
Start Time
30 December 2021, 12:00 AM
End Time
31 January 2022, 12:00 AM
Kuwait's ruling emir announced the formation of a new Cabinet on Tuesday, breaking a weeklong deadlock with the nomination of 15 new government ministers who will have to address a series of political and financial difficulties.
The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah represents the Gulf Arab state's fourth government over the last year and a half alone.
Kuwait has struggled to defuse a standoff between members of the Gulf's only elected parliament and a government appointed by the emir. The dispute has delayed an overhaul of Kuwait's welfare system and prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt — leaving it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries.
In recent weeks, however, Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah has ramped up efforts to resolve the political paralysis, granting amnesty to members of the self-exiled opposition.
Abdulwahab Al-Rushaid, a known critic of the government’s fiscal policies, becomes finance minister, replacing Khalifa Hamada, state media reported.
Other appointments include:
Defense Minister and deputy PM: Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah
Interior Minister and deputy PM: Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Sabah
Foreign Minister: Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah
Health Minister: Khaled Al-Saeed
Minister of state for municipality affairs and minister of communications: Rana Al-Fares
It remains uncertain the new Cabinet can take swift action to appease the public, especially with the ministers representing such starkly different bases and backgrounds according to the state's established appointment system.
Kuwait new finance minister
