‘Respond why ratified laws not implemented by Dec 27’ – Assembly panel cautions ministries

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 10: The parliamentary Priorities Committee on Wednesday presented reports about the government’s sources of income and Kuwait Transparency Society. The committee also set Dec 27 as the deadline for ministries to submit their responses to queries on the non-implementation of laws ratified in the previous legislative term. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Committee Rapporteur MP Ahmed Lari confirmed the attendance of Public Works Minister Ali Al-Omair and Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Subaih.

During the meeting, the committee looked into important points that will be tackled in the parliamentary sessions slated for Dec 15 and 16 as follows: the Priorities Committee’s report on the government work program, Economic Planning Draft Law, Commercial Agencies Draft Law, amendment of two articles in the Publications Law, report of the Ministry of Electricity and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) on the power outage that the country experienced earlier, report of the Finance Ministry on the diversification of national income sources, report of the Social Affairs Ministry about Kuwait Transparency Society, reports of ministries on the non-implementation of laws enacted by the Parliament, and government work program.

Furthermore, MP Faisal Al-Kandari urged the government to expedite the issuance of executive bylaws for 17 laws ratified by the National Assembly in the previous term. He argued the achievements in the field of legislation will not be complete without the executive bylaws. He underscored the need for the government to match the commitment of the MPs in ratifying laws, indicating the executive authority’s delayed response to calls for the issuance of bylaws might hamper efforts of the legislature to ratify laws that are beneficial to the country and its people. He said the role of MPs includes supervision, legislation and ensuring proper implementation of laws.

On another issue, MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi has presented a proposal to amend law number 35/1962 on the parliamentary election. He suggested adding Paragraph G to Article Eight to read as follows: Citizens who reached the age of 21 shall be registered through the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) provided they fulfill the voting requirements without the need to visit the other concerned agencies. In his explanatory note, the MP said the current version of Article Eight states that those who reached 21 years old shall be registered through the Ministry of Interior and other relevant departments. He added it is important that the registration is done through PACI instead of making the voters go from one place to another to complete the process.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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