Grilling motion against HH Premier referred to parliamentary panel for constitutional revision

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KUWAIT CITY, May 14: As expected, the interpellation motion that MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari submitted against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak was referred to the parliamentary Legal and Legislative Affairs for constitutional revision. During the parliamentary session on Tuesday, Minister of Justice and State Minister for Parliament Affairs Fahad Al-Ofasi requested for discussion of the interpellation motion behind closed doors in accordance with Article 69 of the parliamentary internal regulations.

Responding to the minister’s request, Al-Kandari pointed out that such scenarios are being pushed whenever MPs are not fond of revealing their positions on the matter at hand to the public. Although every indicator in the country is going downward and in spite of their belief that the interpellation is constitutional, some MPs betrayed their constituents by blindly supporting the prime minister, he added.

This governmental request was the last straw which prompted MPs Adel Al-Damkhi, Abdulkareem Al- Kandari, Shu’aib Al-Muwaizri, Hamdan Al-Azmi, Abdulwahab Al-Babtain, Mohammed Hayef and Mohammed Al-Mutair to declare non-cooperation with the government. In their motion, the MPs explained that by refusing to attend the special session without legal or constitutional justification and disrupting the interpellation against the prime minister; the government solidified its negligent directive, hence, the need for confrontation.

Since representatives of the Kuwaiti public have reached deadlock with a government that disregards articles or the governing authority, the MPs announced no cooperation with the government and demanded for the latter’s dissolution to pave way for the formation of a more cooperative government. Several other MPs submitted a letter objecting to the referral of the interpellation motion to the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee, arguing that it is a violation of the Constitution and weakens the authority of the Parliament.

In response, Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim stressed that all procedures taken were in accordance with the Constitution and parliamentary internal regulations. He said any information or statistics leaked from the closed door session is considered false and inaccurate, so it should not be published by any media outlet. He added, “Only what the speaker officially discloses after a closed door session is factual.” He went on to say that due to the short working hours during the holy month of Ramadan and the time spent on discussing the interpellation motion, the Parliament decided to extend the session until Thursday.

Considering the scheduled session, the current legislative term will end on July 2 or July 3, the Speaker concluded. Prior to the closed door session, the Parliament approved several incoming letters including the request of the committee tasked to investigate the admission procedures and regulations at the Fatwa and Legislation Department to extend the deadline for submission of its report for two more weeks

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff and Agencies

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