Kuwait formed its fifth government in less than a year, naming new oil and defense ministers as the OPEC member tries to break out of a prolonged political impasse that has stalled tax reform and development.
Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah, the eldest son of Kuwait’s ailing ruler, heads the line-up, which includes Saad Al-Barrak as the country’s eighth oil minister in as many years. Al-Barrak, a former Zain chief executive known for building the Kuwaiti telecommunications company into a global giant, has been critical of government bureaucracy in the past. He was also appointed Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments.
Manaf Al-Hajeri, the fifth finance minister since 2020, was re-elected and heads the Kuwait Investment Authority, which manages the country’s sovereign wealth fund which is valued at more than $700 billion.
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a prominent member of the ruling family, was named defense minister, filling a position that had been vacant for about nine months.
A former president of the Olympic Council of Asia and a former minister, Sheikh Ahmad was sidelined by senior members of the ruling family more than 10 years ago after a dispute and remained out of the cabinet until now. He had been among the main Al-Sabah vying for power in the oil-rich Gulf nation, and his return marks a shift in alliances both in the family and in Kuwaiti politics.
Frequent cabinet turnover has given successive ministers few opportunities to push for reform and bring stability, as the cycle of disruption delays economic diversification and deters foreign investment. It has also fueled Kuwaiti sentiment that their country is directionless.
“The ‘new’ government is not so new, it’s following the same old playbook,” said Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University. “But it is the Prime Minister’s boldest government yet.”
The latest cabinet has the highest number of ruling family ministers in years and the highest number of deputy prime ministers ever, as well as the return of an ambitious ruling family member even as his legal battles in the foreign are not finished, said Al-Saif.
Earlier this month, the country held parliamentary elections for the third time in less than three years. Opposition lawmakers with ties to the prime minister now dominate the new National Assembly. This could help pave the way for smoother relations between the government, whose members are appointed by the ruling family, and elected lawmakers.
