Speculation about disagreement on next ruler of Kuwait

Strong split seemed to have emerged among members of the Kuwaiti ruling family over ruling this country. The chairman of the Kuwaiti national guards Sheikh Salem al-Ali al-Salem al-Sabah, one of the main pillars in the family said that Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah will take the constitutional oath as a ruler of the country before the parliament.

Al-Salem al-Sabah said that Sheikh Sabah sent a message to speaker of the Ummah council in order to convene the session stressing that he and senior officials of the family members support Sheikh Saad who was actually nominated as a prince for Kuwait following the demise of his predecessor Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The former liberal parliament member in Kuwait Abdullah al-Neibari told al-Jazeera satellite TV that there are news speculating about news from the office of Sheikh al-Abdullah al-Sabah in which he calls on the Ummah council to convene in order to take oath before him as a ruler for the country.

Al-Neibari indicated, that if this statement is true, it will open fears that there is a conflict inside the ruling family. He showed fears that the current conflict will lead to an interference from outside the limited constitutional channels.

This development comes while most members of the ruling family, asked the prime minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah to shoulder his responsibility before his people and before Kuwait as a ruler for the country.

The Kuwaiti official news agency KUWNA said that huge number of people of the al-Sabah family renewed to Sheikh Sabah confidence entrusted to him by the late prince and appealed him to "carry out his responsibility to continue leading the blessed march for the dear homeland Kuwait."

The agency added that Sheikh Sabah stressed his determination to shoulder this great responsibility with a "high sense of responsibility so as to meet the ambitions of citizens for prosperity and dignity."

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kuwait quoted one member of the Kuwaiti ruling family as saying that most of them met on Friday morning in the house of Sheikh Sabah and asked him to shoulder the responsibility of the Emirate and take appropriate constitutional measures, if Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah accepts to give up the rule because of his health conditions.

The correspondent added that the request of the ruling family came in the context of preserving the dignity of Sheikh Saad and avoiding him an inappropriate position even when he wants to take his oath. He also said that this step will prevent doubting the ability of Sheikh Saad in the future by members of the Ummah council.

Al-Jazeera said that there are still members of the family who still ask for Sheikh Saad to assume the presidency of the Kuwait.

When Sheikh Saad gives up his post voluntarily, Sheikh Sabah will be acclaimed the ruler of Kuwait, but if he does not quit, the Kuwaiti constitution and the "law of inheritance in the Emirate" states that the Cabinet will submit the illness issue of prince Saad to the parliament which should vote by two third majority to declare the post of the prince as vacant. After that a new prince will be a new prince legally after taking oath before the parliament.

The chairman of the legislative and legal committee at the Ummah council Fahd al-Khenna said that the council is waiting for the consensus by the ruling family on one common view and to agree on announcing a new prince for the country. He told al-Jazeera he will hail any agreement to be concluded by the family to this effect.