Ministers to face grilling on forged passports issue soon

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Support early retirement bill: MP Al-Mutairi

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 30: The parliamentary Human Rights Committee invited His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to its meeting on Thursday to discuss the forged passports file, says Committee Chairman MP Adel Al- Damkhi.

According to the lawmaker, the government intends to ask ministers, who will most likely be grilled in the next legislative round to stand on the grilling podium. He pointed out that only “minimum solutions” to the forged passports issue have been presented, including the health insurance card which allows holders of these passports to undergo treatment in hospitals and enroll in schools. He stressed that interpellations will not affect the Parliament’s relationship with the government, indicating the most essential step is to submit joint draft laws and a clear vision on passing laws in the interest of citizens; such as the option to retire early.

Meanwhile, MP Hamoud Al- Khudair has underscored the need for the government and Parliament to reach an agreement on the importance of amending certain provisions of Amiri Decree No. 61/1976 on social insurance in order to reduce the retirement age.

He said he is among the MPs who signed the request to regard the proposal as an urgent matter at the beginning of the next legislative round. He called on the government to support this bill rather than rejecting it by using the financial situation of the country as justification. He also urged the government to look into the number of MPs pushing for the approval of the bill as manifested in their request to consider it an urgent matter in the next legislative round.

He then appealed to the government to respect results of the vote on the bill, considering this is crucial in strengthening cooperation between the two authorities. He believes that the bill, once passed, will solve many problems like unemployment and accumulation of unnecessary workers in government agencies.

He added this will also generate jobs for thousands of Kuwaitis on the employment waiting list and give women enough time to take care of their families. Commenting on the same issue, MP Majed Al-Mutairi stressed the need for everyone to support efforts to ratify the early retirement bill. He said the government must prove that it is willing to cooperate with the Parliament by agreeing on the need to pass the bill.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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