Kuwaiti Prime Minister appointed for 7^th time

Amir of Kuwait H. H. Al-Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah exercising his inborn constitutional prerogative conferred upon him as stipulated in Article 56 of the constitution, signed the decree on Wednesday 6^th April, 2011 appointing H. E. Al-Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as Prime Minister for seventh consecutive time.

Kuwait is a country where both systems of hereditary and democracy, which are antagonistic to each other in any case, are so nicely blended and cemented that they go hand in hand. The head of the state personified as Amir of Kuwait is always from royal ruling family of Al-Sabah meaning by that howsoever the country may boast of to be democratic but yet ordinary Kuwaitis are barred to man the top slot. Then comes the next in command who is called Crown Prince and here too none but an incumbent from ruling Al-Sabah family only can be seated. The third authority in precedence is Speaker of National Assembly which is an elected member of the National Assembly in a sense that initially he contests in general election like anyone else and once he is elected and inducted as member of national assembly then he can present his candidature to be elevated as Speaker and not otherwise.  He is, therefore, an elected officer of the assembly and not a nominated one. Amir appoints Prime Minister who is at 4^th slot in authority and precedence in rich tiny oil export country.

It is worth mentioning that Amir appointed H. E. Al-Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as Prime Minister for the 1^st time in 2006 and since then PM had to face too many humps and bumps to the extent that 6 times he had to tender resignation from Premiership but each time Amir who is his 1^st cousin in any case did not think of anyone else but him to continue as PM which in itself is a local record if not an international one. Once, the crisis between the executive and legislature has gone so very high that Amir had no alternative but to even dissolve national assembly to cool down the explosive situation. Some MNAa dared even to move a grilling motion against the PM in the assembly charging him for many reasons and irregularities committed by him but he neither gave in to such tactical moves nor did he run away, rather on the contra, he faced very bravely and when it came to voting in the assembly he successfully triumphed. Majority of MNAs voted in his favor and not against him but had the situation been otherwise hen he had to quit. So he survived in grilling.

Kuwait constitution empowers MNAs to monitor the functioning of the government machinery and they have been invested with the power to cross question anyone be a minister or prime minister and such like deterrence does serve as a monitor and those in authority are at least to be mindful that they must not exceed their limits. As and when any minister crosses the red light he/she is asked by the national assembly members to answer as to what compelled him/her to trespass and such like move has reaped fruit. No denying the fact, checks and balances are the very soul of any successful system and from that point of view Kuwait can very rightly boast of being a truly democratic country. MNAs have moved against many ministers who included both from royal ruling Al-Sabah family and otherwise. Ministers are given a copy of the allegations leveled against them by MNAs and they are given sufficient time to prepare their answers and or defense and such like move on the part of the MNAs must be appreciated than depreciated and in absence of any accountability the ministers may go astray.

H. E. Al-Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah being appointed as Prime Minister for seventh consecutive time proves in quite crystal clear terms without any shadow of doubt that as per Amir there is nothing wrong with PM so why to replace him. Moreover, by appointing he for 7^th times means that there will be continuation in the policies envisaged and introduced by PM otherwise there is a very grave possibility that the new PM may not be fully in agreement with his predecessor. However so many time tendering resignation in itself is a mind boggling for PM and being a human, he will think at least once of not more, not to do anything which may be against the country or the people or both hence he cannot drift away unless he willingly and happily risk his seat.

The latest development is that on Wednesday 30^th March, 2011 PM along with his cabinet ministers tendered resignation to H. H. Amir of Kuwait who accepted the same but asked PM and his ministers to continue till further orders. It was Wednesday 6^th April, 2011 that Amir signed the decree for reappointing him as PM and he has been full liberty to choose any one as minister which can be ay sitting minister or past minister or member of the national assembly. PM has already started meeting cross section of people belonging to much background, professions and experiences so that he is fully aware of the situation and can nominate anyone he thinks the best to be a minister.  He has very wide choice to re-appoint those who were with him in the last cabinet or take  those who had been ministers some time back or pick up some the members of the national assembly and of course he can bet on those who are specialists in their own fields. He is not in a hurry though it is very much likely that the new cabinet may be announced in a day or tw.

Doesn’t it prove that Kuwait is truly democratic country both in letter and spirit?