DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Kuwait formed a new government on Monday after the previous cabinet was dissolved following the third parliamentary elections in three years amid infighting that has paralyzed the country’s political system.
The 15-member Cabinet was appointed by Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah, who in turn was reappointed to that post by his father, the emir, last week. They will join the 50 members of parliament elected earlier this month to form the National Assembly. It is the fifth Cabinet in less than a year.
Kuwait is alone among Persian Gulf Arab countries in having a democratically elected assembly that exerts some checks on the ruling family. But in recent years, the disputes between the cabinet and parliament have left it unable to enact even basic reforms.
Ten of the 15 cabinet members, plus the prime minister, are reappointees, but there is a new defense minister, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Ahmed al-Sabah, and oil minister, Saad Al Barrak.
Finance Minister Manaf Abdulaziz Al Hajri, was reinstated. He earlier replaced Abduwahab al-Rushaid, an outspoken young figure known for his criticism of the government’s fiscal policies.
A general election in September had delivered a mandate for change, bringing 27 new lawmakers to the 50-member assembly. However, in March, Kuwait’s Constitutional Court annulled the decree dissolving the previous parliament and reinstated it. A few weeks later, the ruling Al Sabah family dissolved that parliament for a second time, setting up the most recent vote, in which most of the lawmakers elected in September regained their seats.
The relationship between the parliament and the cabinet will be strongly shaped by who wins the race to be speaker.