Events in the year 2023 in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Incumbents

Holidays

: * 1 January – Sunday –

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

* 19 February – Sunday – The Prophet's Ascension * 25 February – Saturday – National Day * 26 February – Sunday –

Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...

* 27 February – Monday – Public Sector & Bank Holiday in lieu of Kuwait National Day * 21–25 April –

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

* 27 June – Tuesday – Arafat Day * 28–30 June –

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

* 1–2 July –

* 20 July – Thursday –

Islamic New Year The Islamic New Year (, '), also called the Hijri New Year, is the day that marks the beginning of a new lunar Hijri year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The first day of the Islamic year is observed by most Muslims on ...

(In lieu of Wednesday 19 July) * 28 September – Thursday – The Prophet's Birthday * 17–19 December – Mourning for Sheikh

Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (; 25 June 1937 – 16 December 2023) was Emir of Kuwait from 2020 until his death in 2023. He was minister of interior (1978–1988, 2003–2006), minister of defense (1988–1991) and deputy prime m ...

* 31 December – Sunday – Public Sector & Bank Holiday in lieu of

2024

Events

March

*19 March – The Constitutional Court ruled in favour of reinstating the previous parliament elected in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, citing discrepancies in the decree dissolving the previous parliament.

June

* 6 June - 2023 Kuwaiti general election: Kuwaitis return to the ballots again for the third time in three years following the second dissolution of the 16th session by Crown Prince

Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (born 27 September 1940) is Emir of Kuwait, reigning since 2023. Mishal spent most of his career in Kuwait's security and intelligence apparatus. Prior to becoming Emir at age 83, he was the oldest crown princ ...

. * 18 June – Kuwaiti Prime Minister Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah forms the 44th Cabinet following his reappointment, appointing

Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (; born 12 August 1963), also known as Ahmad Al-Fahad, is a controversial Kuwaiti politician, ruling family member, and disgraced former sports administrator. His career has been marred by cont ...

as the

defense minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and Saad Al Barrak as the oil minister.

July

* 27 July – Kuwait executes five by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

, including man convicted over ISIS mosque bombing in 2015 that had killed 26 people.

October

*30 October – An Indian nurse from the Al Sabah Hospital was deported by the Kuwaiti government for her pro-Israel stance and calling Palestinians "terrorists".

November

* 26 November – Kuwait's highest court

sentences The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages. Background The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...

former

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah (, born 1953) is a former Kuwaiti politician and retired lieutenant general. As a member of the ruling House of Sabah, Al Sabah family, he does not belong to the Mubarak Al-Sabah, Mubarak branch eligible for the emirate. ...

to seven years in prison for mishandling military funds while former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (, 5 January 1942 – 14 September 2024) was a Kuwaiti royal and politician who served as the prime minister of Kuwait from 2011 to 2019. He previously served as minister of defense as well as deputy pri ...

, who faced similar charges, is only ordered by the court to return the funds that he mismanaged.

December

* 16 December – **

Emir of Kuwait The Emir of the State of Kuwait () is the monarch and head of state of Kuwait, and is the country's most powerful office. The emirs of Kuwait are members of the Al Sabah dynasty. Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah became the emir of Kuwa ...

dies at 86. His half-brother,

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

, succeeds him as the new

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

. ** The government announced three-days holiday across the country and 40 days mourning with flags lowered at half-mast. Malls and Complexes were closed from 16th to 18th, other than essentials. Ministry and State Institutions had holidays from 17th to 19th. Flags lowered at half-mast at all ministries, state agencies and main roads for a 40 day period. * 20 December – ** Sheikh

took oath at a special National Assembly session becoming the 17th Emir of the State of Kuwait. **

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Sheikh

receives government resignation from Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Deaths

* 26 February – Ali Al-Baghli (aged 75), politician * 6 April — Saad Zenefer Al-Azmi (aged 73), former

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

member (2009-2011) * 12 May - (aged 81), singer * 25 May – Ahmad Johar (aged 65), actor * 27 August – Sheikh Khaled Al-Saeedi, Imam of the Grand Mosque of Kuwait * 15 December – Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain (aged 87), poet, writer and businessman * 16 December –

(aged 86), the 16th Ruler of Kuwait and the 7th Emir of the State of Kuwait, (b. 1937)

References

{{Year in Asia, 2023 2020s in Kuwait Years of the 21st century in Kuwait