KUWAIT CITY, March 1: The parliamentary Budgets and Final Accounts Committee on Monday discussed the budgets of the National Assembly for fiscals 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. Rapporteur of the committee MP Badr Al-Dahoum disclosed the Assembly signed a contract with a lawyer’s office for the provision of legal services to Al- Majles TV at KD30,000 per year. He said the committee recommended the termination of the contract, because the Assembly has a Legal Affairs Department which represents it in court and provides legal services.

He added the Assembly signed the contract with a lawyer known for attacking and insulting MPs who do not agree with the policies adopted by Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim on social media. It seems the contract is the price that the lawyer was paid for insulting the MPs.

The contract must be terminated as it is illegal and it is tantamount to wasting public money. It is unacceptable that the Assembly’s money is utilized to insult the MPs, he asserted. Member of Educational, Cultural and Guidance Affairs Committee MP Hassan Jawhar said they discussed Monday the recent decision of the Education Ministry to continue the online classes for the second semester of the current academic year.

Jawhar claimed the ministry issued alarming decisions such as obligating teachers of kindergartens to record new videos of lessons just two days ago without training them in this regard. He pointed out the ministry had earlier recorded professional video lessons, wondering why it is now asking the teachers to do the recording.

He then emphasized the importance of focusing on primary, elementary and preparatory stages as they will have a great impact on the future of students; particularly when the students pursue higher studies and join the labor market.

On the other hand, MP Yousef Al-Ghareeb submitted a bill to amend National Assembly Election Law number 35/1962 to extend the period for revising the voters list to one year, instead of one month (February). The revision includes adding citizens who reached the legal voting age (20 years old), removing the names of citizens who passed away, and transferring the names of citizens who moved to another constituency.

Al-Ghareeb explained his proposal is aimed at reducing the crowd as the revision will be done within a period of one year and to prevent mistakes, which usually happen because many citizens spend their Spring vacation abroad during the month of February. MP Ali Al-Qattan submitted a proposal for the Council of Ministers to assign the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) to reduce the price of plots allocated for citizens in the housing projects in East Abdullah Mubarak and South Abdullah Mubarak from KD5,000 to KD3,000. MP Marzouq Al-Khalifa submitted a proposal to establish a branch of Kuwait Credit Bank in Jahra in order to facilitate the completion of housing related transactions for the citizens residing in the area.

MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf proposed the cancellation of exceptional salaries granted to the prime minister and his deputies, National Guard chairman and his deputies, Assembly speaker, MPs and senior officials in ministries and other public institutions. He also suggested reducing the salaries of the prime minister and his deputies, ministers, chairman of the National Guard and his deputies, Assembly speaker and senior officials; in addition to granting just one salary for a minister who is in charge of two or more ministerial portfolios.

Moreover, MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji forwarded queries to interim Minister of Commerce and Industry Faisal Abdulrahman Al-Medlej about the installation of electronic platforms in various departments under separate contracts, instead of floating one public tender as it is usually done in the implementation of major national projects. He requested for copies of all other bids compared to the bid of the implementing company, system and programs installed by this company, and licenses of the mother company that the ministry needs to record the systems exclusively.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen asked interim Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Ali Fahd Al-Mudaf about the nonappointment of Kuwaiti graduates from the Physical Education Department at the College of Basic Education as teachers. He wants to know if the ministry coordinated with Kuwait University and Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in this regard.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff