Emir Mishaal launches his rule over Kuwait with forthright criticism of MPs, government and his predecessor

Shortly after taking his oath of office on 20 December, new Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah used his speech to the National Assembly to complain that MPs and the government had “harmed the interests of the country”.

Mishaal also criticised a series of pardons by this predecessor, the late Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, pointing to a potentially significant shift in style at the top in Kuwait – if the new emir’s forthright words prove more than PR.