Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah took over the Emirate of Kuwait for 3 years (Al-Jazeera)
Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the 16th Emir of the State of Kuwait, was able to face the largest economic crisis caused by the decline in oil prices in 2020. He took over the emirate in September 2020 and took the decision to pardon the country's activists and politicians as part of an inclusive political process. He died on 16 December 2023.
Birth and upbringing
Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah was born in Kuwait City on June 25, 1937, and grew up in Dasman Palace, the ruling house at the time.
He is the sixth son of the tenth Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who ruled Kuwait from 1921 to 1950, and is the half-brother of the late Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Study and training
He was educated in Kuwait within its regular schools, including the Mubarakiya School.
The text of the Amiri Diwan statement in which he mourned the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations and the world on the death of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah pic.twitter.com/y4GKVXEfZN
— KUNA (@kuna_ar) December 16, 2023
Functions and responsibilities
Sheikh Nawaf began his career on February 21, 1962, when the late Emir Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah appointed him governor of Hawalli governorate, a position he held until March 19, 1978.
Sheikh Nawaf is considered the true founder of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, having held its portfolio during two periods during the reign of his half-brother, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the first from March 19, 1978 to February 26, 1988, before returning to the government formation on July 13, 2003 as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
On January 26, 1988, he was appointed Minister of Defense, a post he returned to on June 20, 1990, and while in office he worked to modernize and develop the defense system.
Following liberation from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Sheikh Nawaf was entrusted with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor from April 20, 1991, until October 17, 1992.
On October 16, 1994, Sheikh Nawaf assumed the position of deputy head of the National Guard with the rank of minister, a position he continued to hold until his return to the government on July 13, 2003 as deputy prime minister and minister of interior again.
On February 7, 2006, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah issued an Amiri order recommending him crown prince, only to pledge allegiance unanimously to the National Assembly on February 20, before being sworn in by then-Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad and the assembly marking his assumption of office.
Sheikh Nawaf assumed the emirate on September 29, 2020, and was sworn in before the National Assembly the following day, succeeding the former Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
The Amiri Diwan mourns to the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations and the world the death of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah https://t.co/tEXF7OfFGB#KUNA #الكويت pic.twitter.com/FEiiaAbL0S
— KUNA (@kuna_ar) December 16, 2023
Achievements during the reign
On November 13, 2021, Sheikh Nawaf issued two Amiri decrees pardoning citizens and former members of parliament, which included ending and commuting the sentences of 11 people for 24 others convicted in the 2011 storming of the National Assembly and the Abdali Cell, which was convicted in 2017.
This was seen as the fruit of the national dialogue that began in October 2021 between the executive and legislative authorities, which Sheikh Nawaf called for to find a solution to the ongoing crisis between the government and the House of Representatives.
Sheikh Nawaf faced the biggest economic crisis in 2020 after the collapse of oil prices to record numbers affected Kuwait's credit rating with international agencies, but this crisis was quickly remedied and returned to the right track despite the economic obstacles imposed by the Corona virus in that period.
Sheikh Nawaf sought to stimulate the various economic sectors and develop their products and services, and worked to create competitive investment opportunities, until Kuwait ranked first in the Arab world and third globally in the value of the sovereign wealth fund's assets, which rose to $ 738 billion from $ 270 billion in 2011.
Source : Al Jazeera + Kuwaiti Press