KUWAIT CITY, Sept 1: Some parties are trying to mislead the public by accusing the Parliament of causing chaos in the media through the enactment of laws, which allegedly eased procedures for the issuance of licenses to publications and television channels, Chairman of the Studying Negative Phenomena Committee at the Parliament MP Mohammad Hayef said Wednesday.

Hayef revealed the panel refuted the allegations during its recent meeting with HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. He argued the Kuwaiti Constitution guarantees the general rights and freedom of the people. He explained the legislature approved the Publications and Audio-Visual laws to balance these rights, freedom of expression and respect of other people’s dignity. He said the Audio-Visual Law was enacted to protect people’s right to own media channels and ensure that nobody abuses their privacy, religious tenets and character.

The lawmaker stressed Article 11 of the law specified 14 topics banned for publication, such as those related to religion, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, system of the regime, members of the judiciary, public employees, members of the Parliament, general morality, confidential information related to the state, and anything deemed offensive to other people. He said the law also prohibits calling or inciting hatred or disrespect towards any group in the Kuwaiti society or anything that might damage Kuwait’s relations with other nations.

Hayef clarified both the Publication and Audio-Visual laws mandate the information minister to guarantee the proper implementation of these laws and appoint employees to curb or record violations.
He stated the Ministry of Information has right to stop the airing of any program proven to have violated the law. He stressed that Article 15 of the law and the Constitution include stipulations on the need for coordination between the legislative and executive authorities to serve the interests of the country and supervise the implementation of the laws.

Meanwhile, MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei forwarded a number of questions to the minister of foreign affairs on the hazardous effects of the Bushehr reactor to the environment. He asked if Russia and Iran have presented all the relevant information, including the technical aspects, on the functions of the reactor. If yes, did they forward the information to the specialized bodies in Kuwait like the Environment Public Authority (EPA), Ministry of Health and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR)? What were the comments of these institutions? He also demanded copies of correspondences between Russia, Iran, Kuwaiti government and local scientific authorities on the issue.