KUWAIT CITY, Dec 23: Director General of Al-Adalah Channel Jafar Mohammed recently submitted a formal complaint to the Parliament against MP Faisal Al-Muslim for removing the microphone of the channel at a press conference Wednesday.

In his complaint, Mohammed asserted the lawmaker has no right to remove the channel’s microphone and he should not behave according to his whims, since he is an elected representative of the nation.
However, Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi did not accept the complaint, pointing out that Kuwait has a judiciary and anyone who feels he has been wronged should go to the court. “Besides God, the Almighty, the court is the only institution we can resort to if we want justice. We live in a state of institutions with a fair judiciary, so those who feel they have been mistreated must seek the assistance of the court,” he added.

Explaining why he rejected the channel’s complaint, Al-Khorafi disclosed he looked into the complaint and asked the complainant if there has been any instance in the past when the Parliament offended the channel’s staff and reporters or denied entry to the session hall and the response was in the negative. He pointed out the lawmakers have right not to issue a statement to any channel, in the same manner that the channel or any media outfit has right not to take statements from the MPs. He said the Parliament’s functions include protecting lawmakers or its staff from various forms of abuse.
On the other hand, Jafar slammed Al-Muslim for alleging that the channel is corrupt. He called on the Parliament to tackle his complaint to uphold the dignity of the media.

In an unrelated development, the Public Utilities Committee on Thursday discussed 12 draft bills, including the proposed establishment of the telecommunications and transportation authorities.
Committee Chairman Mikhled Al-Azmi affirmed the Parliament Office has specified the priorities for the current legislative round. He said the legislature’s priority list includes both bills.
He revealed the panel will discuss the telecommunications authority bill after two weeks to be followed by the transportation authority bill.

He added representatives from the ministries of Interior, Public Works and Communications will be invited to the meeting.
Al-Azmi admitted a hundred proposals have been presented and the most important of which is the restoration of Diwaniyas.