Kuwait unveiled on Wednesday a new 16-member cabinet formed after general elections in which Islamists made a strong showing. Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah approved the lineup presented by Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah following the May 17 polls, and which includes a Shiite activist briefly detained in March over a controversial rally.
Mohammad al-Olaim, who was minister of electricity and water and acting oil minister in the previous cabinet, was appointed to lead the two ministries. The cabinet, which was later sworn in by the emir, includes seven new faces and two women compared to one in the previous government.
Nuriya al-Sebih was retained as education minister while Mudhi al-Humoud, a liberal academic and university professor, was appointed for the first time as state minister for housing and administrative development.
Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali was retained in his post while Ahmad Baqer, a former Islamist MP, was appointed minister of trade and industry, AFP reported. Besides the prime minister, a nephew of the emir, four ministers are from the Al-Sabah ruling family who continue to hold the key posts of interior, defence, foreign affairs and information.
Soon after forming the cabinet, Sheikh Nasser vowed to cooperate with the new parliament.
The cabinet includes two members of the Shiite minority: Shamali and newcomer Fadhel Safar, who was appointed minister of public works and municipalities. Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Hussein al-Huraiti is the only elected MP in the cabinet.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
