More reports on amnesty on way

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 4: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim confirmed that he, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid, and Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council and Court of Cassation Judge Ahmed Al- Ajeel have submitted the first report on the regulations and conditions regarding the Amiri amnesty to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He said several reports on the amnesty will be submitted to His Highness the Amir later, pointing out that it takes time to review all the relevant lawsuits. He clarified the final decision is in the hands of His Highness the Amir as per Article 75 of the Constitution: “The Amir may, by Decree, grant pardon or attenuate punishment.

Amnesty, however, may not be granted by law and only in respect of offenses committed prior to the proposal of a law granting amnesty.” He then expressed gratitude to the executive and judicial authorities, as well as the MPs who supported the initiative regardless of their political views. On the other hand, MPs Hassan Jawhar, Hamad Rouhaldeen, Muhannad Al-Sayer, Mehalhal Al-Mudaf and Abdullah Al-Mudaf submitted a proposal for the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) to present a recommendation to the Council Ministers on granting exceptional incentive or allowance for retirees as per Article 80 of the law on the establishment of PIFSS. They suggested the budget for this should be taken from the interests that PIFSS has collected, which reached KD6.5 billion in fiscal 2020/ 2021.

MP Bader Al-Humaidi submitted a proposal for the six governorates to carry out a national campaign to plant trees in different parts of the country. He stressed the need for concerted official and public efforts to achieve this goal in line with the international recommendations to increase green spaces and combat desertification in order to avoid the dire consequences of climate change. The proposal states that governorates will receive financial and material support from individuals, banks and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Moreover, MP Khalil Al-Saleh forwarded queries to Minister of Finance and Investment Affairs Khalifa Hamada about the study conducted by the Cabinet to reduce the budget allocated for subsidies by KD2.18 billion in the next four years. He asked what commodities are included in this reduction plan, if the conditions of citizens with limited and middle incomes were taken into consideration, negative impact of such move on these citizens, and ways to protect them from the consequences of this step. MP Fares Al-Otaibi asked Minister of Information and Culture and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Abdulrahman Badah Al- Mutairi about the disappearance of artifacts from Kuwait Museum. He wants to know if the ministry assigned a committee to regularly conduct an inventory of artifacts at the museum; if yes, dates of the committee’s meetings in the last few years; if no, the mechanism adopted to check and monitor the artifacts; date of discovering that the artifacts were stolen; measures taken in this regard; names and jobs of the members of the committee; results of investigations conducted by the fact-finding committee which the minister formed; date of informing the Public Prosecution about the incident; and if there were employees suspended due to the incident. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff