KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait unveiled yesterday a new 15-member Cabinet with a few changes from the previous government which resigned in November following a dispute with Parliament.
The Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, approved the lineup presented by Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, state television said. The ministers were later sworn-in by the emir.
The previous six-month-old Cabinet resigned on Nov. 25 following a Parliament showdown after three Islamist MPs filed to grill Sheikh Nasser for allowing a banned Iranian Shiite cleric to enter the emirate.
Sheikh Nasser vowed yesterday to cooperate with the Parliament, which is controlled by Islamists and tribal conservatives.
“We reaffirm our determination to double efforts... for positive cooperation with Parliament in shouldering national responsibilities,” the prime minister said.
Among the major Cabinet changes was the appointment of Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah as caretaker oil minister in OPEC’s fourth-largest producer. Mohammad Al-Olaim, the minister of oil and electricity and water, was dropped, along with the ministers of health and communications. Olaim had come under fire over two controversial mega projects — a scrapped $7.5-billion joint venture with US Dow Chemical, and a $15-billion project to build a new refinery which is expected to be abandoned. The Cabinet, which includes just two new faces and two women as previously, was swiftly criticized by several MPs.
“The new Cabinet line-up is nothing but a political plunder...and a deliberate provocation for lawmakers and the Kuwaiti people,” Islamist MP Daifallah Buramia said in a statement.
He said Sheikh Nasser took a long time to hammer out the Cabinet and only made a few changes, which he explained was “an indication of a plan to dissolve Parliament.” Independent MP Saadun Hammad said ministers who were the cause of disputes with Parliament were retained, warning they would be quizzed in Parliament.
Besides the premier, a nephew of the emir, four ministers are from the Al-Sabah ruling family who continue to hold the key posts of interior, defense, foreign affairs and information.
Nuriya Al-Sebih was retained as education minister while Mudhi Al-Humoud, a liberal academic and university professor, kept her post as state minister for housing and administrative development.
Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali continues in his role, while former Islamist MP Ahmad Baqer stays on as trade and industry minister.
