Talks set on fuels pricing
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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 5: Toplevel discussions will be held on Sunday within the Parliament and the government circles regarding the recent decision taken by the Cabinet to increase fuel prices, reliable parliamentary sources say.
They explained that these discussions and consultations will precede the joint Parliament government meeting that is expected to be held Monday or Tuesday for discussing the alternative solution that the parliamentary side will present in an effort to reach an agreement between the two sides concerning the increase in fuel prices.
The meeting will be held in the presence of the National Assembly Speaker and the Prime Minister. The alternative solution is to allow the market forces dictate the local prices of fuel instead of fixing the current price for citizens.
All scenarios of the proposed solution will be discussed during that joint meeting. In case the Parliament and the government reach an agreement concerning the alternative proposal next week, the concerned parliamentary committee will carry out a study in this regard which will cover the financial aspects related to supporting the fixing of fuel price for citizens.
Members of the National Assembly have agreed on the proposal to link the local gasoline prices with the international prices as opposed to fixing the current fuel price for citizens. All proposed solutions, especially those discussed by the Parliament’s Finance Committee such as distribution of coupons to citizens or providing financial support based on civil IDs will be discussed and a solution satisfactory to both parties will be reached during the meeting.
However, sources revealed that the government indicated the unfeasibility in applying the parliamentary proposals, which were presented at the meetings of the Parliament’s Finance Committee, due to time constraints especially since the decision issued by the Council of Ministers to increase gasoline prices is scheduled to be implemented on Sept1, 2016.
They stressed that the government has no intention to postpone the implementation of this decision. The sources affirmed that the Parliament and the government are jointly seeking a mechanism which cannot be breached so that the support for the citizens is aimed for the desired purposes.
They indicated the existence of difficulties in determining the best mechanism to provide support to citizens, especially the difficulty in knowing who among the citizens hold drivers’ license but do not drive and who actually drive and use their cars. They added that fears have been expressed over the possible exploitation of this support one way or another.
Meanwhile, MP Talal Al-Jalal has urged the government to review its decision of increasing the gasoline prices, particularly since this decision could mainly affect citizens who earn low and limited incomes. He stressed that he will reject any decision that will negatively affect citizens.
Al-Jalal revealed that he was surprised that such a decision was issued at this time without any consideration of its negative impacts on the financial responsibilities of the citizens. He insisted that there are several alternatives to this decision and they will soon be presented to the government when addressing the shortcomings of its decision in its current form.
Al-Jalal elaborated that the alternatives, which will have the parliamentary support, will be aimed to protect the citizens from the effects of the decision to increase the gasoline prices. He urged the government to cooperate with the parliament and implement the proposal of MPs.
By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff
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