KUWAIT CITY, June 22: MP Khaled Al-Shukhair has described the statement issued by the parliamentary majority bloc after its meeting Thursday at the Diwaniya of veteran MP and former Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Al-Saadoun as purely political.

 He said, “the Ruling Family must understand the message before the majority hold their second meeting next Monday.” He stressed the Constitutional Court ruling to reinstate the 2009 Parliament is an abuse of institutional work, “so the previous Parliament should have not been reinstated.”

The majority bloc has criticized the Constitutional Court ruling. The bloc stressed “the verdict ruling null and void the 2012 Parliament which represented the true will of the nation because of a procedural error committed by the government, is a new event and difficult to accept.”

In a statement Thursday, the majority called for amending the Constitution to adopt full parliamentary system saying this has become a necessity. The statement indicates “tampering with the elections constituency would mean rigging the elections.”

Meanwhile, sources disclosed the ministerial committee in charge of implementing the Constitutional Court ruling is scheduled to meet next Monday to determine what steps should be taken next to invite the 2009 National Assembly. The current executive authority must resign first because the scrapping of the 2012 Parliament means the membership of Minister Shuaib Al-Muweizri, the current minister of Housing Affairs appointed from elected members of the Parliament is unconstitutional.

Sources indicated Al-Muweizri too has resigned and this is another issue that forces the government to quit. The Cabinet will present a letter of resignation to HH the Amir in this case and the Committee of Ministers will determine the next step to issue a decree to form a new government.

Furthermore, the sources explained the government will hold the swearing-in ceremony in front of HH the Amir and then the National Assembly of 2009. If the Parliament does not hold its sessions during this period, an Amiri decree can be issued to suspend it for a month. If it becomes difficult for the Parliament to convene then it will be dissolved to pave the way for new elections.

The sources say a decree is expected by the end of next week or in the first week of July at the latest to form the next government.

It stated the current government must resign first before the publication of the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Official Gazette.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution has decided to postpone summoning the MPs of 2012 National Assembly who have cases in court and against whom the Parliament had refused to lift the parliamentary immunity until after the summer holidays which will begin at the end of this month.
This is because the summons first requires the issuance of a decree to dissolve the current Parliament, and a decree to reinstate the parliament of 2009, with these two decrees being published in the Official Gazette, says a legal source.

The source explained the parliamentary immunity will be lifted from the MPs as soon as the decree is issued and published in the Official Gazette. Among the MPs who are going to be affected by the decision include Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Musallam Al-Barrak, Mohammad Hayef, Osama Al-Munawer and others.”

 The sources said the Prosecution will ask the Criminal Investigation Department to inform the MPs to appear before it and if they fail an arrest warrant will be issued. “But this will not happen before the end of Eid Al-Fitr which is due next September,” added the source.

In another development, MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei has predicted the verdict which will be issued against the MPs who were accused of storming the National Assembly last November will be very severe. He noted this is part of the conspiracy to reinstate the 2009 National Assembly and bring down the 2012 Parliament.”

He said “the suspension of parliamentary sessions for a month was part of this scenario. This was to pave the way for the Constitutional Court to issue its verdict. He said the timing coincided with the verdict issued by the Constitutional Court in Egypt to disqualify the Parliament.

He stressed the Authority will deal with the 2009 Parliament from the perspective of keeping it to the end of its term, if not, a decree will be issued to suspend it for a month and work to amend the constituencies to 10, and if that fails, it will call for elections after two months.”

On another issue, MP Salwa Al-Jassar announced she is consulting with her electoral base before she decides whether to resign from the membership of the 2009 Parliament which was re-instated by the Constitutional Court.

She said she will announce her decision within a few days, emphasizing her main concern is to work for the sake of Kuwait.

Earlier, Al-Jassar had stated that the Constitutional Court ruling shows the integrity of the Kuwaiti judiciary is in tact and does not succumb to pressures or effects.”