(Bloomberg) -- Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, whose rule as Kuwait’s emir was defined by efforts to resolve long-standing political disputes that blocked attempts to improve the economy, has died. He was 86.

Sheikh Nawaf passed away after being admitted to hospital on Nov. 29 for an emergency health problem, state-run KUNA reported on Saturday. In line with the constitution, 83-year-old Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who’s already been handling most daily affairs of state, was named to succeed his half brother.

The emir’s death is unlikely to change Kuwait’s oil strategy. The country is one of the world’s biggest exporters of crude and a key member of OPEC, usually acting in lockstep with the alliance’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Nawaf “was a great friend of the UK and we will remember fondly all he did for our bilateral relationship and his work to promote stability in the Middle East,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement.

Even before assuming power in September 2020 — when he was already thought to be in poor health — Sheikh Nawaf had met with top opposition politicians demanding reforms and amnesties in return for their cooperation. The talks, which began as his predecessor Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was receiving medical treatment, were soon subsumed by the Covid-19 global health emergency and its impact on Kuwait’s oil-dependent economy.

In November 2021, 10 months into a new opposition-dominated National Assembly that barely convened amid political squabbling, Sheikh Nawaf signed decrees pardoning a number of opponents and activists in an effort to break the political deadlock. 

The decision was hailed by many Kuwaitis who hoped their country was finally turning a new page after years of bickering between an elected parliament and an executive appointed by the ruling family.

But the instability in the small nation continued, with decision-making left hostage to the standoff. In June 2022, Sheikh Nawaf decided to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. In a televised speech read out by Sheikh Mishaal, the emir blamed discord between lawmakers and the government for months of political turbulence that had paralyzed policymaking. Parliament was dissolved again earlier this year.

Divided Society 

While Kuwait has lacked a stable government for many years, a number of local disputes between the ruling regime and the opposition were resolved since Sheikh Nawaf assumed office.

Sheikh Nawaf leaves behind a less divided society due to his ability to settle certain points of contention within the political arena. While the government, headed by his son, has announced its intentions to solve the country’s major issues, many Kuwaitis remain skeptical about the authorities’ ability to solve pressing economic, social and political issues threatening the country’s future.

Sheikh Nawaf, a modest figure who regularly mingled with his people and attended prayers at his local mosque without his guards, continued the regional mediation role his brother had started, which bore fruit in January 2021 when a group of four Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia agreed to end its boycott of neighboring Qatar. 

Whereas Kuwait’s foreign policy was more dynamic under the former emir — a seasoned diplomat with a flair for resolving regional disputes — today that role is more low-key.

Sheikh Mishaal has one year to nominate a new crown prince. This is expected to be the next major political issue in Kuwait, with certain ruling family members at loggerheads as they jostle for power.

Breaking with tradition, and due to his ill health, Sheikh Nawaf had already delegated most duties to the crown prince, who took a prominent role in running the daily affairs of the country. Still, Sheikh Nawaf had continued to oversee the main direction of events.

Oil Wealth 

Kuwait’s 1.5 million citizens are among the world’s wealthiest by average per capita income. The nation was home to about 8% of oil reserves located in member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at the end of 2022, according to the OPEC website.

Yet its politics have for years been roiled by repeated tussles between the government and the Arab Gulf’s sole elected parliament with any real power. The clashes have delayed critical fiscal proposals, including a draft bill allowing the government to borrow overseas.

Years of lower oil prices forced Kuwait to burn through its liquid reserves, which were almost depleted by mid-2020. Desperate to generate funds, the Finance Ministry was forced at the time to swap its best assets for cash with the $700 billion Future Generations Fund, which is meant to safeguard the nation’s wealth for the time when its oil reserves aren’t in demand. Those financial reserves have since been replenished, thanks to the recovery in oil prices.

While post-pandemic economic growth picked up in 2022, it’s set to contract 0.6% this year before expanding 3.6% in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Early Life 

Sheikh Nawaf, born on June 25, 1937, was the sixth son of Kuwait’s 10th ruler, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, and was educated in Kuwait. He had four sons and one daughter. 

Preferring to spend holidays in his homeland, Sheikh Nawaf loved to cook, and enjoyed fishing but not actually eating his catch. He liked music, and could play the violin, piano and the oud. In his younger days, he hunted and rode horses. 

He was first appointed to the cabinet in 1978 as interior minister, and later held the defense and social affairs portfolios. Sheikh Nawaf also served as deputy chief of the national guard. 

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As emir, he urged the government and parliament to “double efforts” to honor the aspirations of Kuwaitis, many of whom favor greater power for elected lawmakers, as well as to ensure public funds were protected.

According to the constitution, the emir has the final say in all political matters, even appointing the prime minister, and political parties aren’t legal.

That has resulted in a quasi-democracy with a powerful but fragmented opposition. Parliament is often filled with populist independents who clash with governments they accuse of being too soft on corruption.

(Updates with crown prince being named as new emir, Sunak comment)

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