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Kuwait’s new emir was sworn in in parliament on Wednesday as the country prepared to put the late ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah to rest, who helped lead the U.S. ally Gulf state through some of the most turbulent decades in the Middle East.
The cabinet quickly appointed the designated successor, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, as ruler on Tuesday following the death of 91-year-old Sheikh Sabah, whose body is due to arrive in Kuwait on Wednesday from the United States, where he had been hospitalized since July. .
Nawaf, 83, pledged to work for the prosperity, stability and security of the OPEC member country after taking the oath, holding both hands to his head as lawmakers applauded.
“Our beloved nation today faces difficult situations and dangerous challenges that can only be overcome … by joining ranks and working hard together,” he told the National Assembly.
The funeral has been limited to members of the ruling family due to concerns about the coronavirus, which along with low oil prices has put the wealthy oil producer’s finances to the test.
When the previous emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, died in 2006, thousands of Kuwaitis attended the funeral and many, along with expatriates, lined the streets.
“We honestly feel that we are going to be lost without your guidance,” said Fajer, a Kuwaiti woman.
Dignitaries from around the world paid their respects to the seasoned diplomat and intelligent politician, widely respected as a humanitarian who strove to heal divisions in the Middle East, mending ties to the former occupier of Iraq and trying to his death to resolve an issue. bitter dispute in the Gulf.
Analysts saw the death earlier this year of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, who also played a moderating and balancing role in the region, as the end of an era in the Gulf where a younger and more aggressive generation has come to power, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have taken tough positions against rival Iran.
“Although the incoming power brokers in neighboring Gulf countries did not always heed his advice, the Emir was a reminder of an order to be achieved that was the foundation of the goodwill that international partners have in the region,” he wrote Kirsten Fontenrose, director of Scowcroft Middle East at the Atlantic Council.
Sheikh Nawaf takes the reins of the small nation, which owns the seventh largest oil reserve in the world, at a time when the government is trying to boost the finances of a country whose citizens enjoy a welfare system from the cradle to the grave.
Kuwait’s foreign, investment and oil policy is not expected to change.
Nawaf lacks his brother’s experience as a conciliator and is likely to focus on domestic issues such as electing a crown prince who can build consensus in the ruling family and working with a parliament that has often clashed with the government and hampered efforts to economic reform, diplomats and analysts say.
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