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Kurdish President Massoud Barzani visited Kuwait in early November, meeting Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Their talks focused on the planned opening of a Kuwaiti consulate in Erbil and general political developments in Iraq.

Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah arrived in India on 7 November for a visit, the first by a Kuwaiti premier for several years. His delegation included foreign minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and oil minister Mustafa Al-Shamali. He met Indian premier Manmohan Singh and discussed issues including energy, investment and labour laws. Singh told a news conference that he had asked Sheikh Jaber “for the continued support of the Kuwaiti leadership to ensure that the full protection of Kuwaiti laws and labour welfare measures is available to them [Indian workers in Kuwait]”.

While Kuwait’s economy remains predominantly strong and stable, there is a growing sense of urgency over the need for economic reform. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly warned that spending is unsustainable, a message that was iterated again following a visit by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on 10 November. Noting the increased fiscal risks, on the back of a growing reliance on oil revenues and spending rigidities, Lagarde – who met Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, finance minister Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah and governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait Mohammed Al-Hashel – said: “To contain these risks from eroding buffers and to save for future generations, it is important to contain current expenditures such as the public sector wage bill and generalised subsidies, and find ways to enhance non-oil revenues.”

A court on 27 October again adjourned the trial of former MP Musallam Al-Barrak, this time until 7 January. Al-Barrak was sentenced to five years for his public criticism of Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah during an election rally in 2012. In May, the appeals court overturned that verdict and ordered a retrial (GSN 954/6).

Seven years after a succession crisis shattered Kuwait’s delicate domestic political balance (GSN 774/1), the emirate is gearing up for another battle over the country’s leadership. Kuwait’s 84-year-old Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in power since January 2006, remains in good health, though he has worn a pacemaker since 1999. Nonetheless, questions are increasingly being asked about the next succession. Kuwait is a hereditary emirate, and only the descendants of Mubarak Al-Sabah, known as Mubarak the Great (r. 1896-1915), may be emir; traditionally, heirs are chosen from the Al-Salem and Al-Jaber branches of the family, by a ruling family council.

Kuwait’s lower court has sentenced journalist and writer Mohammad Al-Wushaihi to three months in prison for remarks he made on Twitter that were deemed offensive to former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah.

Deputy prime minister and finance minister Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah criticised Kuwait’s bloated bureaucracy and inefficient labour market on 7 October, repeating views he expressed before resigning as governor of the central bank.
Interestingly, his comments were carried by state news agency Kuna, although the headline, ‘Kuwaiti economy “strong and stable”’, highlighted a different aspect of what was his first extensive public policy statement since taking charge at the ministry in August (GSN 953/8). 
Sheikh Salem did, indeed, say Kuwait’s economic situation was predominantly strong and stable, pointing to a KD12.7bn ($44.8bn) surplus for the 2012-13 financial year ending in March, representing 24.7% of nominal GDP for 2012.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah arrived back in Kuwait on 9 October following private visits to the United States and Britain. The emir spent a brief time in London on his way home from New York, where he appears to have been based since late August.

With events in the Middle East – especially Iran and Syria – centre stage, delegations from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states were very busy at the United Nations General Assembly. None more so than Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, who led the Qatari delegation for the first time as emir. Sheikh Tamim used his address to the assembly to appeal for UN reform, and – amid much speculation over whether or not he will pursue the vigorous pace of diplomacy initiated during his father’s rule – to state Qatar’s desire to remain a “hub for dialogue”.

Kuwait’s appeals court has adjourned the trial of opposition figure Musallam Al-Barrak until 27 October. According to newspaper reports, the court said it wanted to hear the testimony of witnesses who had failed to show up. Al-Barrak was sentenced to five years for his public criticism of Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah during an election rally in 2012; in May, the appeals court overturned that verdict and ordered a retrial. Al-Barrak’s lawyers have argued they were not allowed to call the witnesses they had requested.

Egypt’s central bank governor, Hisham Ramez, said on 11 September that Kuwait would deposit $2bn in aid in the bank “next week”. Ramez told Al Arabiya television that the money would remain in the central bank for five years. It is part of a $4bn aid package announced by Kuwait following the overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi (GSN 951/1).

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah flew to the United States on 12 September for a two-day state visit. The emir’s delegation – which included deputy prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, deputy chief of the National Guard Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, and senior officials from the emiri diwan and the foreign ministry – was received at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC by US deputy chief of protocol Natalie Jones and Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Authorities in the Phillippines have freed Kuwaiti hostage Ahmad Al-Kanderi. On 4 September, Kuwait’s state news agency, Kuna, quoted foreign office sources as saying Al-Kanderi was in good health, and being questioned by the local authorities about his abduction in August. Kidnappers had asked for a ransom of $500,000; it was not clear whether any money was paid, although there were reports that the Kuwaiti military attaché in Manila paid KD8,000 ($28,000) for his release.

GSN provides a round up of developments in three court cases: Sheikh Meshaal Jarrah Al-Sabah v UBS AG, Sharab v HRH Al-Saud, Habtoor Leighton Group v Al Faisal Holding

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).