KUWAIT CITY, May 19: The recent visit of Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will be one of the points in the grilling request that the Development and Reform Bloc intends to submit against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said Thursday.
Al-Tabtabaei revealed the grilling will be presented by MPs Mohammad Hayef and Mubarak Al-Waalan to the Office of the Parliament on Sunday. He explained the main point of the grilling is the alleged destruction of Kuwait’s relations with other GCC nations. He said the prime minister will be questioned on the purported attempt to destabilize national security due to the lenient attitude towards Iran, delayed assistance to Bahrain through participation in the Peninsula Shield Force and the visit of the Iranian foreign affairs minister.

Clarifying that there will be no changes in the main point of the grilling, Al-Tabtabaei asserted the inclusion of Salehi’s visit is just a supporting argument to the allegation that the premier prefers maintaining ties with Iran rather than the other GCC nations. “We were surprised when Salehi was allowed to visit the country less than 50 days after the issuance of a court verdict against the Iranian spy network. They even discussed the reinstatement of the embassies of both countries as if nothing had happened,” he lamented.

Commenting on speculations that the grilling request is a form of interference in Kuwait’s foreign affairs policy which is not under the jurisdiction of the lawmakers, Al-Tabtabaei asserted the national security is their foremost concern as Kuwaitis, not as parliamentarians. “The Parliament formed a fact-finding committee after 1992 and condemned the policy of condoning Iraq. We will not repeat this mistake because at the time there was no legislature to monitor the activities of the government. Since we currently have a parliament, they should be held accountable for their lax security procedures because the gravity of the Iranian threat is similar to that of Iraq during the invasion,” he added.

In another development, member of the parliamentary Health, Social Affairs and Labor Committee MP Dr Salwa Al-Jassar affirmed the commitment of the National Assembly to discuss the amendments proposed by the panel to the Cooperative Societies Law number 24/1979. She stressed the need to approve this proposal to support the economic movement in Kuwait, because it is aimed at organizing the cooperative sector.

Al-Jassar revealed the 2007 Audit Bureau Report included several recommendations which must be taken into consideration in amending the law, considering the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has yet to implement a decision to regulate the prices in coordination with the Cooperative Societies Union. She said the prices of some products with the seal of the union are higher than those of other companies. She argued the purpose of the union is to offer products at more affordable prices to help the consumers cope with the rising cost of living in the country, not to make profits. She also accused the union of obtaining grains with its seal through middlemen; thereby, violating a ministerial decision issued in 2008 on the purchase of goods directly from suppliers.

In case the proposal is approved, it should be enforced on the newly-elected boards of directors of cooperative societies, not those elected prior to the passage of the bill.