Bankruptcy bill removes criminality

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Legislator wants names of visa-trade MPs

KUWAIT CITY, June 15: National Assembly Speaker of Marzouq Al-Ghanim confirmed receiving letters from His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- Khaled Al-Sabah and Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah to be included in the agenda of the upcoming session under the incoming letters item.

He said the letter of Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled is about the sessions which will be held in the future, while that of the health minister includes a recommendation on holding online sessions.

He also explained that holding online sessions contravenes the Assembly Decree which specifies Abdullah Al-Salim Hall as the only place for holding parliamentary sessions and there should be a quorum. He revealed the agenda for Tuesday’s session include the grilling requests against Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Soud Al-Harbi and Minister of Finance Barrak Al-Shitan.

He added the other issues, including coronavirus and some bills, will be discussed on Wednesday; hinting on the possibility of holding another session on Thursday if the need arises.

Meanwhile, MP Yousef Al-Fadalah called on the Public Prosecution, Ministry of Interior and Anti-Corruption Public Authority (NAZAHA) to divulge the names of Kuwaiti MPs involved in the visa trading case of the Bangladeshi MP; otherwise, he will raise the issue in the next session.

He urged the monitoring institutions to provide the concerned authorities with copies of the declarations of assets and liabilities submitted by the MPs in February 2020 to compare them with the declarations submitted at the beginning of the parliamentary term. He said the concerned authorities can also check the bank deposits of MPs, if necessary. On the other hand, MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said NAZAHA is “clinically dead since it is contented to keep on watching corruption issues silently, without taking any action.” He asked the concerned authorities not to renew the term of the present Board of Directors of NAZAHA due to its negative performance and lack of action.

Moreover, Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Chairperson Safa’a Al-Hashem affirmed that the committee has finalized its reports on the bills regarding salary advance and loans for retirees, in addition to the Bankruptcy Bill. She said these reports were forwarded to the Assembly for inclusion in the agenda of the upcoming session.

She added the opinion of Finance Minister Barrak Al-Shitan is that it is not possible to implement the Salary Advance Bill according to Islamic Sharia.

On the Bankruptcy Bill, Al-Hashem explained this is derived from the American law (Chapter 11); pointing out that it protects the small investors and presents solutions to their financial problems rather than dealing with bankruptcy as a crime.

She went on to say the bill stipulates economic protection and financial restructuring, instead of closing the doors to businesspersons and dealing with them as criminals in case of bankruptcy.

She clarified the alternative solutions stated in the bill aim to protect businesspersons from reaching the point of bankruptcy. She then thanked and praised the efforts exerted by Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalid Al-Rawdan in making the bill.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff and Agencies

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