Kuwait’s new government sees change at key ministries

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced Kuwait’s 33rd cabinet with an emiri decree (209/2013) on 4 August. It is the fifth cabinet since prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah was appointed in November 2011. There were changes at several key ministries – interior, defence and finance will all be headed by new ministers (all members of the ruling family), while Mustafa Al-Shamali moves from finance to oil, a portfolio he has been in charge of since Hani Hussein resigned in May. Seven of the government’s 16 members are from the ruling Al-Sabah, compared to six in the outgoing government. Only one minister is a member of parliament (in the past, as many as eight MPs have been included in the government).