Al-Ghanim heads to Geneva

This news has been read 22457 times!

KUWAIT CITY, June 9: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has started his two-day visit to Geneva where he is scheduled to meet with International Parliamentary Union (IPU) Chairman Duarte Pacheco. As the representative of Arab parliaments, Al- Ghanim will discuss the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine. Deputy Speaker MP Ahmed Al Shuhoumi, Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Mubarak Al-Harees and Secretary General of the Assembly Adel Al-Lugani sent off the speaker at Kuwait International Airport. Prior to the meeting with Pacheco, Arab Inter- Parliamentary Union Chairman Saqr Ghobash assigned Al-Ghanim to represent the Arab geopolitical group. During the meeting of the Arab Inter- Parliamentary Union on May 12, 2021; Al-Ghanim suggested forming delegations whose members are from the Arab parliaments to coordinate with the parliaments and parliamentary institutions in other countries in order to highlight the Palestinian cause and push forward in exposing the Israeli crimes.

Meanwhile, MP Hamad Al-Hamad submitted a bill on amending Article 24 of ministerial Decision No. 957/2019 regarding the residency of foreigners. He proposed adding the children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis to the categories covered by Article 24. According to the bill, beneficiaries will obtain all the rights stipulated in the article; except the bank guarantee which will be replaced by the reference number of the mother at the Ministry of Interior. It stated that the children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis will be treated like citizens in all levels; especially education, health care and employment. They will continue enjoying all these rights even after the death of the mother as per the death certificate and reference number at the Ministry of Interior. The stipulation on the deportation of this category if they violate the residency regulations will be cancelled; as such penalty will be limited to those involved in criminal, dishonorable and security crimes. Al-Hamad affirmed the bill is line with the Constitution, specifically Article 29, stating that men and women are equal; while Article Nine stresses the importance of the family as it is considered the basic unit of society.

On the other hand, MP Osama Al-Shaheen asked Minister of Oil and Higher Education Dr Muhammad Al-Fares if the Ministry of Higher Education has laid down a strategy for adding new departments in the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at Kuwait University which currently consists of six departments. He wants to know if the faculty intends to offer master degree programs for other departments like the Health Laboratory Sciences that launched its master degree program in 2012, indicating this increased the number of students who enrolled in the department. He believes that offering master degree programs will encourage more students to enroll in other departments whose graduates are urgently needed by the local labor market. Consequently, Al-Shaheen submitted a proposal to the Assembly to add new departments in the faculty and offer master degree programs in all of its departments.

Moreover, MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri commented on the proposal of his colleagues to hold a special session on Thursday to discuss real estate fraud and the rising prices of construction materials; stressing that the concerned ministers should have been questioned. He also urged the senior officials at the Amiri Diwan and State Security Department to provide His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah with the correct reports on the deterioration of various sectors like education and health. He wondered why talks on the general amnesty and social reconciliation have stopped; pointing out that Kuwait reconciled with Iraq which invaded the country in 1990 but it is not ready to do the same with citizens who are in exile because of their political views or social media posts. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 22457 times!