ABU DHABI — Kuwait has effectively deposed its new emir after five
days in office.
The ruling Al Sabah family has nominated Prime Minister Sabah Al Ahmad
Al Sabah the new emir of Kuwait, Middle East Newsline reported. The nomination took place on Jan. 20, five
days after Crown Prince Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah was named the new ruler of
the Gulf Arab sheikdom.
Parliamentarians said Saad, 76, was regarded as too ill to assume the
post of emir. They said the crown prince, confined to a wheelchair, could
not recite the oath at any swearing-in ceremony.
"The members of the family renewed to Sheik Sabah the trust bestowed on
him by the late emir and appealed to him to continue leading," an official
statement said.
"There was no violation of the constitution," an government-aligned
parliamentarian said. "This
was not a coup."
The official statement said 60 members of the Al Sabah family nominated
Sabah to succeed the late emir, Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah. Jaber, the brother
of Sabah, died on Jan. 15 after a long illness. Sabah immediately accepted
the nomination, the statement said.
Officials said parliament was expected to approve the Sabah nomination.
Under the 1964 constitution, a new emir must be ratified by two-thirds of
the 50-member parliament.
The nomination of Sabah was not unanimous. At least 20 members of the Al
Sabah family, representing the Al Salem branch that included Saad, were said
to have opposed the
nomination.
Officials said Sabah would leave his post as prime minister. Sabah was
expected to be replaced by Interior Minister Nawaf Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.
The new crown prince was expected to be Foreign Minister Mohammad Sabah
Al Salem Al Sabah. An official announcement was expected later this week.
