Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah appointed on Thursday Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah as the country’s Prime Minister and entrusted him with the task of nominating members for the new cabinet.
On December 20, 2023, the Emir delivered a scathing criticism of the government and parliament in his first address after taking the constitutional oath as the country’s ruler.
Following this, Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah promptly submitted the resignation of his government to the Emir, who accepted it and tasked him with continuing to manage the affairs of the state until the formation of the new government.
Upon his appointment as Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed would have returned to government service after nearly 12 years since his resignation, during which he engaged in academic work.
His most recent position was on May 8, 2011, when he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He held this role until October 2011 when he resigned in protest, alleging government negligence in probing what is believed to be the case of millions being suspiciously deposited into bank accounts of Kuwaiti parliamentarians.
Born on October 10, 1955, Sheikh Mohammed is the fourth son of the twelfth Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.
He follows a lineage of princes who have governed the country post-independence. His elder brother, Sheikh Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, served as the former Minister of Defense and Interior.
Sheikh Mohammed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Claremont McKenna College in California, USA, earned in 1978.
He furthered his academic pursuits with a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University.
In the academic realm, he served as a teaching assistant at the Department of Economics at the College of Commerce, Economics, and Political Science at Kuwait University between 1979 and 1985.
Later in 1985, he was appointed as a professor in the department.
In 1990, Sheikh Mohammed was a member of the delegation of the Kuwaiti Popular Conference that visited North America during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
During that period, he also served as a member of the Supreme Advisory Council that coordinated the activities of the Kuwaiti government in exile and participated in the Reconstruction Committee.
In the political arena, he was appointed as Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United States in 1993 and continued in that position until he was appointed as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on February 14, 2001.
