KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji has asked the Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Nazaha (Integrity) Enhancement Jamal Al-Jalawi to provide him with a copy of the response of the British authorities to the request of Kuwait’s Public Prosecution on July 3, 2021 regarding the extradition of former Chairman of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) Fahd Al-Rajaan who has been convicted of embezzling public funds. Al-Turaiji also inquired about the steps that Kuwait intends to take in case the British authorities do not respond to the prosecution’s request, reasons behind the delayed extradition of Al-Rajaan even if a British court issued a verdict in 2017 to hand over Al- Rajaan to Kuwait.

He added that five years have passed since the signing of the extradition agreement between Kuwait and United Kingdom, so the treaty has been active for quite some time now. In another development, Al- Turaiji criticized the decision of Minister of State for Municipal, Communications and Information Technology Affairs Rana Al-Fares to suspend the commercial and investment activities in sports clubs for three months. He argued that such a decision violates law number 30/2014, calling on Al-Fares to cancel the decision in order to avoid being held politically liable and cases that investors might file later to demand for compensation for the losses they incurred due to the decision.

Queries
Meanwhile, MP Osama Al- Menawer forwarded queries to Al-Jalawi about the steps taken in order to implement Article 188 of Penal Code number 16/1960 on the collection of fines as per court decisions issued in absentia. He wants to know the total amount of fines that have not been collected due to Justice Ministry’s failure to implement this article, average amount of fees collected annually, number of fines cancelled due to the passage of a long period since the issuance of relevant verdicts or error in the enforcement of Article 188, and reason behind the low revenues for fiscal 2020/2021 -- lower than the Finance Ministry’s estimate by almost KD10 million.

Moreover, MP Marzouq Al- Khalifa recently met a number of highly qualified non-ranking officers working at Kuwait Firefighting Force; during which he listened to their complaints and their wish to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He added that he promised to support them until their demands are met. Lastly, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim sent cables to President of Grenada Senate Chester Humphrey and Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael Pierre to greet them on their National Day. Meanwhile, the National Assembly is scheduled to hold regular sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss articles listed on its work agenda, mainly to consider interpellation of Foreign Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah, as well as look into government work plan.

The session will begin with rectifying session transcripts, queries and incoming letters, followed by the four-axis grilling motion submitted by MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizeri. The interpellation will be in regards to “squandering of public funds”, “breaching of laws and mismanagement”, “failure of protecting country’s political interests”, and “non-adherence to international treaties and documents”, according to the interrogating MP. Article 100 of the Kuwaiti Constitution grants members of parliament the ability to file an interrogation request against the prime minister and cabinet ministers about affairs relating to their duties and responsibilities. The assembly will then address government work plan for the years (2021/2022 - 2024- 2025), in application of article 98 of the constitution. Further on the session’s agenda is a host of parliamentary committees’ reports of draft laws, amendments and proposals, amongst which, is the foreign affairs parliamentary committee proposal on amending law boycotting Israel and suggesting law prohibiting dealing with and normalizing the Zionist entity and its organizations. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff and Agencies