KUWAIT CITY, Jan 11: The Parliament resumed its normal sessions Tuesday after the renewing of confidence in prime minister last week. Parliamentary Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi prevented MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie from raising the issue again during Tuesday’s session, saying “the Prime Minister has attained confidence and the chapter is closed now.”

The Parliament’s agenda included discussion on women’s civil rights, but it had to be postponed until Wednesday due to lack of quorum.

The Parliament, during Tuesday’s session, agreed to assign Parliamentary Committee for Interior and Defense Affairs the task of investigating the death of Lance Corporal Abdul-Rahman Wadi Al-Enezi who was killed Monday afternoon during a gun battle between eight Iraqis, who entered Kuwait’s territorial waters on a wooden boat, and the country’s Coast Guard.

The government tried to postpone the issue until next week, but the request was rejected by the Speaker when State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan Al-Roudhan made a mistake in phrasing the request. Instead of saying the government wants to postpone the request, the minister reportedly said the government wants the request to be withdrawn, and so the Speaker rejected it.

Moreover, Minister of Interior Sheikh Jaber Al- Khaled expressed his condolences to Kuwait on the loss of “hero Lance Corporal Abdul-Rahman Al-Enezi,” and added that the ministry is maintaining complete transparency and that the investigation committee is still investigating the incident and “it should be given a chance to complete its investigation.”

However, Rapporteur of Interior and Defense Affairs Committee MP Jaman Al-Harbash insisted that there won’t be any problem if a parliamentary committee also investigates the case alongside the Interior  Ministry and that it will give a much clearer picture.

The Parliament also agreed to assign Parliamentary Committee for Education, Culture and Guidance Affairs the job of investigating the issue of extending school hours and the issue of separating applied education wing from training wing at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), in addition to problems students face at private universities.

MP Ali Al-Deqbasi said the training sector should be separated at PAAET and asked “What will Kuwait loose in establishing a new university for applied education? Why force students to travel Egypt, Bahrain and other countries to get degrees in this specialization?”

He said the education sector in the country should be developed such that Kuwaiti citizens don’t have to go abroad to study; “otherwise, all the talk about development would be just useless.”
According to MP Yousef Zalzalah, the standard of private universities in this country is below standard as compared to other universities, and referring to the fake certificates that are being brought from outside the country, he said “the Education Ministry did nothing about this issue until now.”

Minister of Education Dr Mudhi Al-Humoud commented that private universities are being given serious attention to ensure that students get good quality education and added there are plans to open more universities in line with ministry regulations.

On the fake certificates issue, Al-Humoud said the ministry took legal measures and ensures that no student is sent to any unrecognized university.

Al-Zalzalah commented that though the ministry may have overcome the problem now, no action was taken in the past and “many of these fake certificate holders must be occupying leadership positions in the country. The ministry should review all the certificates attested in the past, so that action can be taken against forgers occupying leadership positions.”

Also, the Public Utilities Committee was asked to investigate the emergency landing of two Kuwait Airways’ planes and the plane of HH the Amir during his trip to Mongolia during Eid Al-Adha.
In this connection, Minister of Communications Dr Mohammed Al-Baseeri said the ministry’s investigation committees completed their   investigation into the first incident and those found guilty were punished, while the second incident is still under investigation. He added that there is no objection in forming another parliamentary committee in this regard.

Speaking on the subject, MP Musallam Al-Barrak said the investigations conducted by the ministry were not serious, so a parliamentary investigative committee should be formed to investigate the issue.
The Parliament also agreed to allocate one hour during March 8th session to discus issues of unemployment and job opportunities. Furthermore, it agreed to assign the Health Committee the task of investigating spoilt food stuff and rotten meat issue and manipulation of expiry date by some traders.
MP Hussein Mezyad said this crisis has affected both citizens and residents and is like a time bomb. The municipality is taking positive steps, but there is lot more to be done, he added.

The Public Utilities Committee was also asked to investigate into reports of compulsory retirement offered to Kuwaiti legal consultants at the municipality, in addition to some organizational violations in the Legal Department.

The Parliament further agreed to assign State Audit Bureau the task of analyzing the response of Ministry of Oil on KD 70 million spent on the fourth refinery project.