Kuwait's emir names new interior and defence ministers after tensions with parliament

Sheik Nawaf appoints one of his sons, Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al Sabah, as interior minister, while Sheikh Talal Al Sabah is appointed defence minister

Sheikh Nawaf Al Sabah of Kuwait this week appointed two new ministers to senior government posts. Reuters

Kuwait on Wednesday filled the posts of interior and defence ministers after two former senior royals resigned last month amid political tensions with the country’s elected parliament.

By royal decree, Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Sabah, appointed one of his sons, Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al Sabah, as interior minister, while Sheikh Talal Al Sabah was appointed defence minister.

Sheikh Ahmed is a former deputy head of the National Guard while Sheikh Talal previously worked as an oil executive.

Last month, Kuwait's emir accepted the resignations of former defence minister Sheikh Hamad Al Sabah and interior minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Mansour.

For the past month, the emir appointed Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al Sabah as caretaker defence minister and Oil Minister Mohammad Al Fares as caretaker interior minister.

Opposition MPs recently filed motions for no-confidence votes against several ministers, including the foreign minister, in whom confidence was renewed in a vote last month.

Sheikh Hamad, who survived a no-confidence vote in Kuwait's parliament in January, said his decision to resign was driven by "arbitrary" questioning of ministers that impeded government work, Al Qabas reported.

A no-confidence vote requires the approval of the majority of members of parliament to be passed, but it is not uncommon for ministers facing a trust vote to resign before the session.

Kuwait's National Assembly enjoys legislative power and politicians have been known to challenge the government and royals.

The country has been shaken by disputes between elected politicians and successive governments dominated by the ruling Al Sabah family for more than a decade, with parliaments and Cabinets dissolved several times.