The life of the late Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was full of rich political experiences that began with the country’s independence from Britain in 1961.
Sheikh Sabah received educational and training courses in some European countries and held important positions at a young age. He was the country’s first Minister of Information and the second Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is the fifteenth Emir of Kuwait, and the fifth since the independence.
Kuwait before Independence
Kuwait gained its independence from Britain on June 19, 1961, when the late Emir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the 11th ruler of the country, signed the independence document with the British High Commissioner in the Arabian Gulf, Sir George Middleton.
Kuwait witnessed an active political life, even before its independence from Britain. The country saw its first written constitution and the birth of its Shura Council in 1921. Moreover, Kuwaitis were the first Gulf people to elect a legislative council in 1938.
The Gulf State was also known for its parliamentary system that was established by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the man of independence. During his reign, the constitution was approved, the first document of its kind in the Gulf. The current constitution was promulgated on November 11, 1962 and entered into force on January 29, 1963.
Seven years before the independence, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah began his political career at the age of 25.
In 1954, the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al Sabah, appointed him to the Supreme Executive Committee, which acted like a cabinet and was responsible for organizing state departments.
After the completion of this committee’s work, he was appointed in the following year as head of the Department of Social Affairs and Labor, when the governmental departments in pre-independence Kuwait were in the ranks of the ministries.
In 1956, he established the first center for popular arts in Kuwait. He also worked on publishing the official newspaper, Kuwait Today.
With the formation of the first cabinet in Kuwait’s post-independence era, Sabah Al-Ahmad was appointed Minister of Guidance and News (Media) in the first government, and thus became the first Minister of Information in the country’s modern history.
By virtue of his membership in the government, he also became a member of the Constituent Assembly which started the process of drafting the constitution. In 1963, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he remained in this position for 40 years.
He also held the ministries of finance and oil as an acting minister, in the fifth ministerial lineup after the independence, between December 4, 1965, and January 28, 1967.
After that, he headed the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. The late Emir was also appointed as acting Minister of Interior between February 16, 1978 and March 18, 1978.
In 2003, an Emiri decree was issued appointing him Prime Minister, a position he held until January 24, 2006, when the Council of Ministers nominated him as Emir of the country, and members of the National Assembly unanimously pledged allegiance to him in a special session that took place 5 days later. He is the third Emir to take to oath of office before the National Assembly in the history of Kuwait.
