KUWAIT CITY, Feb 16: The executive authority will reject a bill that proposes citizenship grants to 4,000 qualified Bedoun (stateless residents) in 2013 during its second deliberation this week, cited parliament sources on Saturday.

During the first deliberation on Feb. 7, the bill was disapproved by all present ministers and a number of pro-government MPs who abstained from the vote. According to the sources, the Interior and Defense Affairs Committee is determined to pass the bill without any changes, but the executive authority said it believes only 2,000 persons who have the ‘Bedoun’ status should be granted citizenship this year, not the 4,000 persons urged by the bill.

If the bill passes its second reading, it is likely the government will return it back to the Assembly for amendments, after which 44 votes in favor of the bill is needed so it can be re-adopted.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Chairman of the Central System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR), Saleh Al-Fadhala said that “granting nationality is a state sovereign issue and external powers have no right to meddle in such internal affairs of a sovereign and independent country”.

“International law grants states legislation right and freedom of setting terms and restrictions for granting the citizenship, in harmony with the state political, economic and social interests,” he said.

Al-Fadhala stressed that “Citizenship is subject to the state’s judgment, in line with the country’s higher interests, thus external parties cannot intervene in such purely internal issues”.

According to KUNA, Al-Fadhala was responding to remarks made by a recently visiting delegation belonging to an international organization. They called on to grant the Kuwaiti nationality to a segment of residents who are not legally eligible to hold the Kuwaiti identification card.

Al-Fadhala elaborated the (CSRSIR) is ready to discuss the humanitarian aspect of this issue with these foreign agencies, but indicated “they should not meddle in the other dimensions that fall within jurisdictions of the State of Kuwait”.