Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah GCB (Hon) (Arabic: صباح الأحمد الجابر الصباح Ṣabāḥ al-ʼAḥmad al-Jābir aṣ-Ṣabāḥ; born 16 June 1929) is the Emir of Kuwait. Sheikh Sabah was sworn in on 29 January 2006 after confirmation by the National Assembly of Kuwait. He is the fourth son of Emir Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah is the head of the Sabah monarchy, which has been Kuwait's monarchy since 1938. On 15 January 2006, then Emir, Sheikh Jaber, died, which placed Sheikh Saad, who was then Crown Prince of Kuwait, into the position of Emir. With the accession of Sheikh Saad, Sabah was likely to become the new Crown Prince, retaining his function of Prime Minister. However, the Constitution requires that the Emir be sworn in before Parliament, and the oath of office is complex; soon the word began to spread that Sheikh Saad was unable to take the oath in full. Some reports suggested that he suffered from Alzheimers or some other debilitating disease; it was generally agreed that he was unable to speak, at least at any length.[3] However, after a power struggle within the ruling family, Sheikh Saad agreed to abdicate as the Emir of Kuwait on 23 January 2006 due to his illness. The ruling family then chose Sheikh Sabah as the new Emir of Kuwait. On 24 January 2006, Kuwait's parliament voted Emir Saad out of office, moments before an official letter of abdication was received.[4] The Kuwaiti Cabinet nominated Al-Sabah to take over as emir. He swore in on 29 January 2006 with the National Assembly's approval, ending that crisis. Al-Sabah dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait on 19 March 2008 and called for early elections on 17 May 2008, after the cabinet resigned in the week of 17 March 2008 following a power struggle with the government. Though Kuwait initially avoided the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests sweeping the region since early 2011, thanks to its oil wealth and large welfare provisions, a struggle broke out between the House of Sabah and a parliament calling for greater independence in 2012, leading the Al-Sabahs to dissolve parliament.[6] In June 2012 Al-Sabah took the step of activating article 106 of the Kuwaiti constitution, suspending the National Assembly for one month. It marked the first time in Kuwait's 50-year parliamentary history that the assembly has been suspended in this way, although it was twice dissolved unconstitutionally (in 1976 and in 1986), and has been dissolved constitutionally four times since 2006.[7] Opposition leader Musallam Al-Barrak assailed the decision to dissolve parliament, calling it a "blatant attack on the choice of the people"[8] and "a coup against the constitution".[9] On 15 October, he spoke before a crowd of thousands of protesters in front of the parliament building. In a speech that BBC News described as "unprecedented" in Kuwaiti political discourse, where criticism of Emir is "taboo", Al-Barrak addressed Emir Al-Sabah directly, stating, "We will not allow you, your highness, to take Kuwait into the abyss of autocracy ... We no longer fear your prisons and your baton sticks".[10] Riot police broke up the protest, arresting a number of people, and the public prosecutor filed charges against Al-Barrak.[10] Al-Barrak was arrested on 29 October for "undermining the status of the emir".[11] On 1 November, thousands of people marched to the prison to protest his arrest. After the crowd refused an order to disperse, police fired smoke bombs and tear gas to break up the protest.[12] Amnesty International issued a statement on Al-Barrak's behalf, stating that he had been detained "purely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression" and calling for the charges against him to be dropped.[13] After four days of detention, Al-Barrak was released on bail after reportedly paying more than US$35,500.[14] As of 2 November 2012, the charges against him were still pending. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabah_Al-Ahmad_Al-Jaber_Al-Sabah

• published: 28 Sep 2013
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