The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, has appointed Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as the new Prime Minister and tasked him with proposing members for the new cabinet. This appointment follows the resignation of Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the former Prime Minister, which occurred after the announcement of the results of the National Assembly elections.
Kuwait occasionally experiences governmental resignations or cabinet reshuffles due to the insistence of MPs to interrogate ministers. Historically, the relationship between the National Assembly and successive governments in Kuwait has been tense, a characteristic of this small country, owing to the ability of MPs to object and hold ministers accountable, a feature that is rare in the Gulf region.
**Who is Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah?**
Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah was born in 1952, making him 72 years old. He is the son of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who served as the head of the Public Security Department in Kuwait during the 1950s. His father is the elder son of the former ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who ruled the country from the 1920s until 1950.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah studied at the Eastern School in Kuwait and earned his high school diploma from the National Evangelical School in 1972. He then received a Bachelor's degree in Finance, Banking, and Investments in 1976 from the University of Illinois in the United States.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah's professional career spans over 40 years; he started as a financial analyst at the Kuwait Financial Center in the late 1970s and later became the Director of Banking Control at the Central Bank of Kuwait in the 1980s. He also chaired the boards of directors of Burgan Bank and the National Bank of Kuwait until the late 1990s, concluding his career in the private sector before transitioning to government service.
He was appointed Minister of Finance and Communications between 1999 and 2001 during the reign of Emir Jabir Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. He retained the Ministry of Communications for seven years until 2006 and also held the positions of Minister of Planning and Administrative Development, as well as Minister of Health, and finally the Ministries of Oil and Information until 2011.
In September 2021, he was appointed as the head of the Diwan of the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, during the reign of Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who passed away in December of last year.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah holds additional experience through his roles as the chair of the Public Services Committee within the Council of Ministers, the chair of the Supreme Civil Aviation Council, and the chair of the Central Technical Authority for implementing technology in governmental work. He has also served as the honorary president of the Kuwaiti Geographic Information Systems Users Group since 2003 to the present.
