Speaker’s meeting with panel heads fruitful

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Al-Ghanim calls for collaboration

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 14: Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has stressed the need for stronger collaboration and minimum consensus between the lawmakers to achieve the desired legislative performance, which is vital in working towards a harmonious relationship with the government.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with the chairpersons and rapporteurs of parliamentary committees on Monday, Al-Ghanim disclosed the main item in the agenda was acceleration of legislative work.

He admitted the current pace is not what they hoped for, affirming the meeting was fruitful as it concluded with all MPs agreeing that minimum parliamentary rapport must be achieved first before seeking harmonious relations with the government. He said they also agreed on strengthening cooperation between all legislative committees, his office and the Priorities Committee in order to pass at least two to three bills in the sessions slated for February and March.

He clarified every MP has the right to reject, approve or amend anything he deems necessary throughout the legislative process. He extended his gratitude to the MPs who attended the meeting for their enthusiasm, hoping to see a better legislative performance in the upcoming months.

On the other hand, MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said the meeting was engulfed in technicalities because the attending MPs are keen on correcting legislative errors that hindered progress in the recent past. He revealed the chairpersons of committees were assertive in their intention to push out bills, which are currently on their tables, the soonest and in the best form possible.

He added the chairpersons promised to complete at least one legislative report before the next session, indicating a task force will be formed soon to urge all parliamentary committees to expedite bills. In another development, the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee on Monday discussed the general framework of governmental expenditures for the new fiscal year – 2020/2019, the 2017/2018 final account of Awqaf Secretariat General, and comments of the State Audit Bureau (SAB) in this regard.

Chairman of the committee MP Adnan Abdulsamad said Finance Minister Naif Al-Hajraf has emphasized the importance of cooperating with the committee regarding the projected budget for the new fiscal year prior to approval. He said the attending representatives of the Finance Ministry and other concerned officials had no input concerning the projected income or expenditure scenarios as they merely presented general principles for projections such as oil price and salary increment.

Therefore, the committee expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s presentation; especially since the maximum expenditure, income and other data related to the general framework of the budget were not clarified. This prompted the committee to adjourn its meeting in order to give more time for the government to prepare the required information.

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff

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