KUWAIT CITY, May 4: The new government will be formed after the mourning period on the death of former Minister for Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who passed away on Wednesday, says Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi.

According to the speaker, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah informed him about the postponement of the announcement of the new government, which was slated for Wednesday, until the end of the mourning period. He hopes the government and the Parliament will resume work within the current legislative term.

Meanwhile, MP Al-Saifi Mubarak Al-Saifi has warned against the reappointment of previous ministers implicated in suspicious contracts. He said the return of acting Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer to the government is tantamount to rewarding those who have violated the law.
He pointed out this will expose the mentality of the government that abhors reform and cooperation. He affirmed the grilling request against Al-Sayer is ready for submission after the announcement of the new government. He added the gross violations and misappropriation of public money can bring down the entire government, not only a minister who broke the law and misled the people.

Echoing the sentiments of Al-Saifi, MP Hussein Al-Qallaf confirmed he and some of his colleagues have urged the premier not to reappoint the acting health minister. “In case Al-Sayer gets reappointed, the prime minister will lose his first line of defense. We have exerted tremendous efforts to ensure the success of his government. A majority of the pro-government MPs supported the interpellation request submitted earlier by MPs Yousef Al-Zalzalah and Al-Saifi against the acting minister, so why insist on reappointing him?” he added.

MP Dulaihi Al-Hajri expressed his full support to the idea of giving the new government a chance to prove its capabilities but the reappointment of Al-Sayer will only cause tension between the executive and legislative authorities.

MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan announced his plan to prepare a grilling request, along with Al-Zalzalah and Al-Saifi, against Al-Sayer in case he returns to the government.

MP Khalid Al-Sultan believes that anyone who joins the next government will put his political career at risk, because the authority will be unstable. He also expects the dissolution of the Parliament within two months after the announcement of the new government, since its predecessor has deliberately disrupted the parliamentary work for almost five months.

In another development, Al-Sultan said he supports the proposed abolition of the Information Ministry to pave the way for the establishment of another authority similar to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other leading media institutions.

Al-Sultan lamented the official Kuwaiti media body is inactive, while the autonomous mass media like Jazeera and Al-Arabiya are now competing with international channels. “We do not want to limit the role of our media to working only in the interest of the government and the officials. We should follow in the footsteps of Qatar, which is a small country but its media plays an influential role,” he asserted.

The lawmaker also rejected calls for the establishment of separate public authorities for animal and fish resources. Kuwait is a small country; hence, there is no need for such authorities. If the existing policies and legislation are inadequate, the officials should work on that,” he added.

On the decision of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee to approve the proposed salary increment for the lawmakers, Al-Sultan admitted he does not know who presented the proposal and the actual motive behind it. “As lawmakers, we should be role models. Instead of increasing our salaries, we must lessen our expenditures. Even if the committee approved the bill, it does not necessarily mean the Parliament will do the same,” he said.

Commenting on the same issue, MP Mubarak Al-Waalan criticized his colleagues who approved the proposal to increase their salaries from KD 2,300 to KD 5,750. He stressed the need to reject the bill, because it is unfair considering that there are citizens who suffer due to their low salaries and lack of employment privileges.