Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah officially became the new emir of the Kuwait

This Wednesday, Kuwait’s Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah officially became the new emir of the country after taking the constitutional oath before the Kuwaiti National Assembly. He said: I swear to the almighty God to respect the constitution and the laws of the state, and to defend the people’s freedoms, interests, and funds, and safeguard the nation’s independence and territorial integrity.

It should be noted that Kuwait’s former Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah died on Tuesday in the United States, where he had traveled in July to obtain medical treatment after a surgery in Kuwait. He was succeeded on Wednesday by the country’s former crown prince, Sheikh Nawaf.

Sheikh Nawaf promised to work for assuring the prosperity, stability, and security of Kuwait; he added that his predecessor’s policies will still the guiding principles for the country. He also said: We affirm our pride in our constitution and our democratic approach.

Parliament Speaker, Marzouq Al-Ghanim, reported that the Kuwaiti National Assembly is sure that Sheikh Nawaf will lead Kuwait to prosperity. In fact, Sheikh Nawaf has been Kuwait’s crown prince since 2006, when he was designed by the late Sheikh Sabah. According to Kuwait’s constitution, each new crown prince must be accepted by a majority in the country’s National Assembly.

Traditionally, the succession of the emir and crown prince positions are restrained to just the descendants of Mubarak al-Sabah. Actually, Sheikh Nawaf had previously served Kuwait during 50 years under different positions, and from 1994 until 2003, the new emir was the deputy chief of the Kuwaiti National Guard, in that year, he was designed the post of Minister of Interior and as the first Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait.