Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah on Tuesday appointed Sheikh Sabah Khalid al-Hamad al-Sabah as the new prime minister, the official KUNA news agency reported.

The new prime minister has been deputy prime minister and foreign minister for years until his appointment.

The move comes after caretaker Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah apologized for not accepting his reappointment as prime minister on Monday, after the emir ordered him to reshape the government, which resigned last week.

The Emir of Kuwait issued an Emiri order on Monday to exempt the defense ministers Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah from the tasks of urgent discharge of things in their ministries, after accepting the resignation of the government last week.

Recent weeks have seen tensions between the government and parliament after questioning Public Works Minister Janan Boushahri and Interior Minister Khalid al-Jarrah al-Sabah.

Ten lawmakers filed a no-confidence motion against the interior minister, who is also a deputy prime minister, and a vote was to be taken, but the government's resignation prevented it.