Nasser Al-Mohammed Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (, born 22 December 1940) is a Kuwaiti politician who served as

Prime Minister of Kuwait The prime minister of Kuwait is the head of government of Kuwait. As the third most powerful official in the country, following the Emir of Kuwait and List of Speakers of Kuwait National Assembly, Speaker of the National Assembly, the prime min ...

from 7 February 2006 until resigning on 28 November 2011.

Early life

Sheikh Nasser was born on 22 December 1940 as the son of

Mohammed Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sheikh Mohammed Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (1909 – 4 April 1975) () was the second son of Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He was the first minister of defense, before the formation of the ministry itself. He was assigned this responsibility when the fi ...

, the first defense minister of Kuwait. He is a nephew of the former

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 ...

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (; 16 June 1929 – 29 September 2020) was the Emir of Kuwait from 24 January 2006 until his death in 2020. He was the fourth son of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Early life and early career Al-Sabah was ...

. He attended high school in

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and graduated in 1955. Then, he received a higher diploma in the French language in 1960.

Career

Nasser began his career as a third secretary at the

foreign ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

in 1964. He became a member of the permanent Kuwaiti delegation at

the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in October 1964. He then served as ambassador to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, the minister of information, minister of social affairs and labour, minister of state for foreign affairs and minister of the Emiri Diwan. He became prime minister when Sabah Al Ahmad began to rule Kuwait in February 2006. Nasser resigned on 4 March 2007 in a move observers believe was aimed at avoiding a no-confidence motion against health minister Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. Ten MPs presented the motion in February over suspected financial and administrative breaches at the ministry. The vote was due to have taken place in parliament on 5 March and Ahmad would have had to step down if legislators had voted against him. He was reappointed as prime minister on 6 March. On 25 November, the cabinet resigned, and on 17 December the Emir reappointed Nasser as prime minister of the new cabinet. In March 2009, the Kuwaiti Government submitted its resignation to the Emir of Kuwait after Islamist MPs requested a hearing of the P.M. On 9 May, after the election of the new Parliament, the Emir asked Nasser to form the Kuwaiti Government for the sixth consecutive time. In January 2011, he survived a vote of

no-confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typi ...

in parliament with a vote of 25–25 (26 were needed to bring down the Government). In April 2011, his cabinet resigned due to a stand-off with

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

; he was reappointed on 6 April 2011 to form a new government, but he resigned again on 28 November 2011. His resignation was accepted by the Emir and who appointed

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 ...

as next prime minister on 4 December 2011.

Personal life

He married Shahrazad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, with whom he has two children: Sabah and Ahmad

Controversies

Dispute with Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

In March 2011, MPs aligned with Nasser Al-Mohammed (

Marzouq Al-Ghanim Marzouq Ali Mohammed Al-Ghanim (, born 3 November 1968) is a former speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait, Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the Kuwait's Second District, second district. Al-Ghanim earned a BSc in mechanical engineerin ...

and

Adel Al-Saraawi Adel Al-Saraawi (; born 1962) is a former member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the third district. Al-Saraawi studied accounting before being elected to the National Assembly in 2003. He is considered an Independent deputy, but ...

) in Kuwait's National Assembly threatened to interpellate Ahmad Al-Fahad, then deputy prime minister, over misconduct in government contracts, leading to Ahmad's resignation from government in June 2011.

Alleged payments to MPs

In August 2011, supporters of Ahmad Al-Fahad "discovered" documents that incriminated up to one-third of MPs in what quickly became the largest political corruption scandal in Kuwaiti history. By October 2011, 16 MPs were alleged to have received payments of $350m in return for their support of government policy.

Alleged Payments through Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Also in October 2011, MP Musallam Al-Barrack, a close associate of Ahmad Al-Fahad, alleged that millions of Kuwaiti

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

s had been transferred through Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the overseas bank accounts of the prime minister, Nasser Al-Mohammed. This led to respected Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah, the only remaining member of the Al-Salem branch of the Sabah family, to resign in protest. Nasser Al-Mohammed denied the allegations, saying that "all the transfers were in the service of the interests of Kuwait and contained no personal benefit" and was subsequently acquitted by a special judicial tribunal in Kuwait.

'Fake' coup video

Source: In December 2013, allies of Ahmad Al-Fahad claimed to possess tapes purportedly showing that Nasser Al-Mohammed and former Parliament Speaker

Jassem Al-Kharafi Jassem Al-Kharafi, (; 1940 – May 21, 2015) was a Kuwaiti oligarch who was the speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly from 1999 to 2011. In April 2014 the Kuwaiti government imposed a total

media blackout A media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be self-imposed or voluntary or enforced by the government or State (polity), state. In countries with stro ...

to ban any reporting or discussion on the issue. In March 2015, Kuwait's public prosecutor dropped all investigations into the alleged coup plot and Ahmad Al-Fahad read
public apology on Kuwait state television
renouncing the coup allegations. Since then, "numerous associates of his have been targeted and detained by the Kuwaiti authorities on various charges," most notably members of the so-called " Fintas Group" that had allegedly been the original circulators of the 'fake' coup video.

Public protests and resignation

Mass

political rallies A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

held in November 2011 led the Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to accept Nasser Al-Mohammed's resignation on 28 November 2011.

Honors and awards

* Order of the Kingdom of Swaziland, First Class, from the King of Swaziland,

Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; 19 April 1968) is the ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads an absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune fr ...

, on 23 July 2009. * Grand National Order of Merit from the President of France,

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, 16 April 2010. * The key to the city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Republic of Chile, from the mayor of the city, in recognition of his role in strengthening the Chilean-Kuwaiti relations on 26 July 2010. * Honorary Citizenship of Tirana from the Mayor of Tirana, Republic of Albania,

Lulzim Basha Lulzim Basha (; born 12 June 1974) is an Albanian lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania and as the Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2022. He is the founder of the political party Euroatlantic Democ ...

, on 26 November 2011. * Honorary doctorate degree from the

University of Rome Tor Vergata University of Rome Tor Vergata, also known as the University of Tor Vergata (), is a public research university located in Rome, Italy. Located in the southeastern suburb of Rome, the university combines a liberal arts tradition with emphasis on ...

in the field of comparative legal systems and international relations on 22 May 2014. * Sigilum Magnum Medal from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, the highest academic honor, on 23 May 2014.

References

External links

Official site of Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabah, Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al 1940 births Living people

Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Nasser Al-Mohammed Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (, born 22 December 1940) is a Kuwaiti politician who served as Prime Minister of Kuwait from 7 February 2006 until resigning on 28 November 2011. Early life Sheikh Nasser was born on 22 December 194 ...

University of Geneva alumni Ambassadors of Kuwait to Iran Ambassadors of Kuwait to Afghanistan Permanent representatives of Kuwait to the United Nations Prime ministers of Kuwait Amiri Diwan affairs ministers of Kuwait Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 2nd class