Kuwaiti people call Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, Emir of Amnesty (Al Jazeera)

Kuwait During the 38 months of his accession to power on September 29, 2020, succeeding the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the sixteenth Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, focused on the file of national reconciliation, and pardoning dozens of political opponents to be nicknamed by the people of Kuwait as the "Emir of amnesty".

The title of Emir of the pardon came after Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad, "whose death was announced today," issued a series of amnesty decrees that affected dozens of opponents and activists in order to achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation in the country, including the return of many opponents who had left the country years ago and were charged with judicial charges.

The late emir's accession came at a very complicated juncture, as the country suffered from political tension following court rulings against activists who participated in the events that followed the 2011 movement, many of whom were forced to migrate for years outside the country.

The National Dialogue was the most important achievement of Sheikh Nawaf during his reign (Al Jazeera)

New page

With the start of his duties, the late Amir stressed the importance of opening a new page entitled the solidarity of all the people and the consensus between the legislative and executive authorities, which were translated into the convening of a national conference and the establishment of an amnesty committee that included the heads of the three legislative, executive and judicial authorities with the aim of setting amnesty controls for those convicted in political cases.

Article 75 of the Constitution of Kuwait stipulates that: "The Emir may pardon or reduce the penalty by decree, but a blanket pardon may only be granted by law for crimes committed before the pardon is proposed."

On November 8, 2021, the late Emir issued amnesty decrees 202 and 203, which pardoned some of those convicted in political cases, most notably the case of storming the National Assembly, as well as those convicted of covering up members of the famous Abdali cell, which dates back to 2015 and whose members were convicted of spying for foreign countries.

Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs: Attendance at burial ceremony of the late Amir will be limited to relatives of His Highness only

– Funeral prayers for the body of His Highness will be held at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, Sunday, at Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Al-Siddiq area.

https://t.co/GdKChRunMX#Kona #الكويت pic.twitter.com/3KsQwUm4Ee

— KUNA (@kuna_ar) December 16, 2023

Return of displaced persons

By the middle of the same month, a number of politicians who had stayed in the diaspora for several years began to return to the country, and the first returnees at the time were former MPs Jumaan Al-Harbish, Mubarak Al-Wallan and Salem Al-Namlan, followed by the return of another group, including former MPs Muslim Al-Barrak and Khaled Al-Tahous and other politicians.

The Kuwaiti politician and one of the most prominent former deputies of the Islamic Constitutional Movement "Hadas", Dr. Jamaan Al-Harbish, described the state of grief for the late Emir by saying: "The whole of Kuwait is a place of consolation today, in grief over the separation of its Emir, whom Kuwaitis consider the father of all of them."

Al-Harbash, one of those included in the pardon decisions of the island net that the late Amir filled the years of his rule with decisions and decrees that brought joy to all the homes of Kuwait and folded a long era of political prosecutions.

He explained that His Highness's decisions reunited his political sons with their families who were pardoned, noting that the number of politicians and activists who benefited from these decrees exceeds 100 personalities and that the sentences against some of the Hirak youth had exceeded 80 years.

According to al-Harbish, the last decree issued by the late prince before he entered intensive care, and died as a result, was the last pardon decree.

The Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, headed by Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf, had approved in its meeting on Monday, November 27, a draft decree to pardon Kuwaiti citizens who were sentenced and the following evening the government announced the issuance of a pardon decree from the late Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad pardoning the freedom-restricting punishment imposed on some people.

The text of the Amiri Diwan statement in which he mourned 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

Confronting corruption

At the level of internal Kuwaiti affairs, Kuwait witnessed during the late Amir's tenure a state of firmness in the face of corruption cases, which is shown by the issuance of a number of final rulings in a number of cases, most notably the case known as the "Army Fund".

The three years of rule also witnessed a state of consensus between the executive authorities and legislation, which observers described as unprecedented, which translated into the development of a long list of legislation, some of which have already been issued, including laws related to improving the standard of living, in addition to the laws of the Electoral Commission and the amendment of the Constitutional Court Law, among others.

Externally, since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Kuwaiti government has been keen to affirm its historically well-known line of support for the Palestinian cause and condemnation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Source : Al Jazeera