KUWAIT — Kuwait Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah assigned Monday Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as prime minister.

Sheikh Mishal tasked the former oil minister with forming a new government, state media reported, after the latest parliamentary polls in the Gulf state

The Emir, in an Emiri Order, assigned Sheikh Ahmad to form a government to submit the names of the ministers to be appointed.

The Emir instructed the prime minister to inform the National Assembly and stated that the order will take effect once published in the official gazette.

"Today an Emiri order was issued appointing Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as prime minister and assigning him to nominate members of the new Cabinet," the Kuwait News Agency said.

The move comes just a few months into the reign of Sheikh Mishal and less than two weeks after Kuwait's third parliamentary vote in as many years saw the opposition maintain its majority.

The government resigned a day after those polls held on April 4.

The outgoing prime minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah refused to take up the position again amid ongoing tussle between the government and the 50-member National Assembly, according to AFP.

Sheikh Ahmad, the 71-year-old new prime minister, served as oil and information minister from 2009 to 2011 and has recently been head of the crown prince's court with a ministerial rank.

He earned a bachelor's degree in finance, banking and investment from the University of Illinois. — Agencies