By Gerald Butt Middle East analyst

Kuwait, one of the world's major oil exporters, cannot find anyone to take over as oil minister.

The previous minister, Adel al-Subaih, resigned after a major oilfield fire and explosion at the end of January at the Rawdatayn plant.

The only place that has come close to what has happened here is Nigeria where, according to international assessments, the administration is one of the most corrupt in the Third World

Al-Qabas daily newspaper

Since then, the Information Minister, Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, has been acting minister.

Now, with a string of potential candidates declining to accept the oil portfolio, he as been told to stay in the post until parliamentary elections in June next year.

The fall-out from the oilfield explosion, including the inability to find a new minister, has exposed the deep flaws in Kuwait's political system which have created a power vacuum and paralysed the decision-making process.

In examining the reasons for the accident in the oil sector, politicians and commentators highlight other shortcomings that collectively account for much of the political malaise.

'Comparable to Nigeria'

The oilfield explosion in January raised the temperature of the political debate in Kuwait because it was no isolated incident.

Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, information minister and acting oil minister

In the summer of 2000, two of the country's three oil refineries were damaged by major accidents that killed five people.

Before and since then there has been a string of less serious incidents.

The day after the most recent major accident, the respected daily al-Qabas wondered: "How come nothing comparable has happened in any other Gulf state or in any other oil producer for that matter?

"The only place that has come close to what has happened here is Nigeria where, according to international assessments, the administration is one of the most corrupt in the Third World."

'Unsuitable appointments'

Dr Subaih has complained of political "interference" from within and outside the National Assembly [parliament], resulting in unsuitable candidates being given jobs in the oil sector.

The state is on the brink of collapse. The country is not running properly. It is a country running without a compass. We need new reforms, new parliament, new government and a new trend

Ahmad al-Rubai, Kuwaiti MP

A number of deputies echoed his criticism in a parliamentary debate on the oil explosion.

Specifically, they accused the government and oil industry of allowing successive ministers to fill senior posts with their own supporters regardless of their abilities, being lax in enforcing safety procedures and refusing to allow transparency in the award of contracts.

'Incompetence and corruption'

But a number of parliamentarians went further than this.

Corruption and laxness in the oil sector led to fires and explosions that no-one could ignore, said MP and former minister Ahmad al-Rubai.

But how many silent explosions - silent catastrophes - brought about by incompetence and corruption were occurring every day across Kuwait's public sector and undermining society, he asked.

"The state is on the brink of collapse," he said. "The country is not running properly. It is a country running without a compass. We need new reforms, new parliament, new government and a new trend."

Mr Rubai's words reflect a broad consensus in Kuwait that the country is passing through a period of acute political crisis.

Ageing rulers

Much of the failure, most Kuwaitis agree, lies in the performance of senior members of the ruling al-Sabah family, many of whom are elderly and in poor health, taking little active part in daily political life.

While some younger members of the ruling family are starting to be groomed to take over top posts there is growing public frustration at the way in which its senior members seem to be out of touch with the daily needs of Kuwait and unwilling to offer a strategy for the future.

Until a less antagonistic relationship can be established between the government (essentially, the ruling al-Sabah family) and parliament - with a complex pattern of shifting alliances between individuals on both sides - Kuwait will remain, in the words of Ahmad al-Nafisi, editor of the weekly al-Talia newspaper "largely on hold, as it has been for some years now".

There is no more obvious indication of the extent to which Kuwait is "on hold" than the fact that the government cannot find anyone willing to take over the running of arguably the most important ministry in the country.

Gerald Butt is Gulf Editor of the Middle East Economic Survey.