KUWAIT CITY, April 14: MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei alleged on Saturday that government entities are doing little to promote leadership job opportunities for Kuwaitis.

He said entities such as the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and the Public Authority for Social Security (PASS), do not promote Kuwaitization in leadership positions within the banks and institutions that are funded by those authorities. On the contrary, Al-Tabtabaei added, “the banks are controlled by expatriates who work on and fighting against and excluding Kuwaitis.”

“Those banks and institutions have in fact laid-off scores of Kuwaitis and replaced them with expatriates who do not have extra distinguished experience or qualification. Even though the banks know that if not for the Kuwaiti public funds they receive, they would have collapsed,” he stated.

Al-Tabtabaei urged the HH the Prime Minister to instruct KIA and PASS to review their funding policies toward the banks and institutions “which practice exclusion and discrimination against Kuwaiti citizens.”
Meanwhile, five MPs submitted a proposal to establish an anti-corruption body entitled the Public Authority for Integrity to be part of the National Assembly. The proposal was presented by MPs, Ahmed Al-Saadoun, Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, Faisal Al-Yahya, Abdullah Al-Turaiji and Osama Al-Munawer.

They suggested the authority be given “the power to function independently and impartially, in full accordance with the provisions of this law and that any person or entity may not interfere in its affairs in any way.”

According to the proposal, the authority aims to implement anti-corruption laws as per the UN Convention, prevent corruption and protect whistleblowers. It also aims to protect state institutions from bribery, trading in influence, abuse of power for personal gain and to prevent nepotism and favoritism and promote transparency.

On another note, as a prelude to his intended grilling request, MP Hussein Al-Qallaf queried the Information Minister on the accusations the minister denied during his previous interpellation. He questioned the minister on alleged money laundering committed by Al-Yawm TV channel, on explicit propaganda offers by Showtime network, and Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, which allegedly published newspapers without the Editor-in-Chief’s name. He requested a report on the legal procedures that were taken due to those violations.