Kuwait's Emir names new cabinet

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah named a new cabinet on Tuesday, February 14 with 10 new faces, including the oil and defence ministers, and no women, despite objections from the opposition, AFP reported.

Hani Hussein, a former chief executive officer of the national oil conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp, was appointed oil minister, replacing Mohammad al-Baseeri.

Sheikh Ahmad Khaled Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family and former chief of staff, was appointed defence minister. Mustafa al-Shamali, the long-serving finance minister, kept his job.

The new cabinet does not include a single Islamist, the largest opposition bloc that scored an impressive victory in the February 2 general elections when they won 23 seats in the 50-member parliament.

The 16-member cabinet was announced less than a day after failure in talks between Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah and the opposition to include more newly elected MPs.

The opposition said in a statement Monday that it accepted an offer from the prime minister to take part in the government but it demanded nine portfolios. The premier offered them only three posts, and they refused, the statement said.

But Shuaib al-Muwaizri, an opposition MP, decided to independently accept a ministerial post to become the only elected MP in the new cabinet line-up. Al-Muwaizri was named state minister for housing and parliamentary affairs.

The snap elections were held after youth-led street protests forced former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to step down in late November. Soon after, parliament was dissolved for the fourth time in less than six years.