KUWAIT CITY, Oct 23: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is likely to reject the resignation of Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of Public Works Ahmad Al-Jassar, and ask him to return to duty, parliamentary sources say.

Al-Jassar had earlier submitted his resignation after the Misdemeanor Court issued a verdict to imprison him and 15 officials of Ministry of Electricity and Water over the case referred to as ‘2007 Emergency Electrical Generators’, a scandal that took place when Al-Jassar was the assistant undersecretary of the ministry. The verdict was suspended by the Court of Appeals before the start of the case.

The sources indicated that Sheikh Jaber is convinced about retaining Al-Jassar, revealing that his stance is in tandem with that of several MPs who requested the prime minister to reject the minister’s resignation.

In this regard, MP Mohammed Al- Hadiya described Al-Jassar as “one of the distinguished ministers with clear hands in the ministerial office and among the leadership positions”. He praised the way Al- Jassar cooperated with all MPs during his ministerial time. He urged His Highness the Prime Minister to reject the resignation of minister Al-Jassar, especially since the Court of Appeals issued a verdict to suspend that of the Court of First Instance in the ‘2007 Emergency Electrical Generators’ case.

Al-Hadiya said the judiciary is still studying that case, and has not issued any judgment yet, due to which, “it is necessary to not accept the resignation of Al-Jassar, as he has proven his courage and the sense of responsibility he placed upon himself when he submitted his resignation after the court’s ruling”. He indicated that Al-Jassar was skeptic about the deal which concluded before 2007 and everyone knew about this fact, insisting that, “Al-Jassar is of national talent and is known for his high efficiency”.

In another development, MP Faisal Al- Kandari has called on MPs who will nominate themselves for membership in parliamentary committees to abide by the quorum of committee meetings after they become members, stressing the importance of the role played by these committees, as they are referred to as ‘Kitchen of the Parliament’. He revealed that a committee was formed to coordinate among the MPs in terms of candidacy for membership in the parliamentary committees, indicating that he is planning to run for membership in the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee and Health Committee.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff