Two take lead on Twitter on day 1

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 17: Following the recent announcement of the formation of the new government, the users of social networking sites rushed to search for the accounts of the new ministers to follow them and monitor their posts especially on Twitter, reports Al-Qabas daily. In a survey conducted by the daily, it was found that nine ministers from the new government have accounts on social media platforms, especially Twitter, compared to five ministers with no accounts registered under their names.

It was noted during monitoring that the most prominent ministers who have open and official accounts are Anas Al-Saleh, Issa Al-Kandari, Ahmed Al-Nasser, Dr Basil Al-Sabah, Nawaf Al-Yaseen, Faisal Al-Medlj, Mubarak Al-Haris, and Rana Al-Faris. A private account was found in the name of the Minister of Oil and Electricity Dr Muhammad Al-Faris, but it was not open to the Twitter users, as he closed it, and only allowed followups conditional upon prior approval. On the first day of the new government formation, it was evident that two ministers took the lead on Twitter.

Most of the website users witnessed a retweet of previous tweets by Minister Nawaf Al-Yassin and Faisal Al-Medlej. Some ministers posted their new positions in their accounts after the announcement of the ministerial formation. Minister of Health Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah is deemed to top the ministers in the number of followers on Twitter, as the number reached above 305,000 followers.

He had recently tweeted - “Thanks and great gratitude to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad for their utmost confidence. I also thank His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled. I ask Allah for help in carrying the secretariat and its performance to the fullest.” The Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh was the fastest to change his position in his personal account, which he refers as “The personal account of a Kuwaiti citizen, and temporary Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs” after the “Minister of Interior” that he used to add. He is followed by 194,500 people on Twitter and 21,000 people on Instagram.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed Al-Nasser, is among the highestranking ministers, with a total of 83,900 tweets, but his account is considered as personal. The State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Mubarak Al-Haris also changed his title in his Twitter account, and tweeted - “Thanks and gratitude to His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prime Minister for their confidence. I ask Allah to help me assume responsibility with honesty to the fullest.” Al-Haris has about 18,900 Twitter followers. Finally, the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Municipal Affairs Dr. Rana Al-Faris changed her title on Twitter from the State Minister for Housing Affairs to State Minister for Municipal Affairs, and she has 48,400 followers.