Speaker voices optimism on Amir’s condition

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim confirmed that news from the United States of America about the health of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is reassuring and comforting.

While voicing optimism over the health of HH the Amir, Al-Ghanim said the Arab and Muslim nations in addition to the Kuwaiti people are praying to Allah to bless HH the Amir with speedy recovery. He hopes the treatment trip to the US ends with the recovery of His Highness the Amir and his safe and immediate return home.

He disclosed that during his meeting with US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski on Sunday, he praised the American Presidency for sending an airplane with medical equipment to transport his Highness the Amir. He said he handed over the letter of the Assembly to Romanowski.

He also met with Deputy Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah who issued directives and confirmed support for the legislature. He revealed HH the Crown Prince affirmed the importance of the Assembly and stressed the need to improve State institutions.

He said the National Assembly Office will meet on Wednesday with HH Deputy Amir and Crown Prince to listen to his directives and advice. In another development, Al-Ghanim confirmed receiving the decree issued by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled to return the bill regarding the appeal against judicial misconduct to the Assembly.

He also received a proposal signed by 10 MPs who requested for allocating two hours of the upcoming session to discuss educational circumstances and another proposal for allocating a session to discuss the bill on establishing the north zone that was referred to the parliamentary Financial and Economic Affairs Committee.

He added the Assembly Office will meet on Tuesday to specify the date for the next session.

Meanwhile, MPs Muhammad Al- Dallal, Omar Al-Tabtabaie, Adel Al- Damkhi, Osama Al-Shaheen, Khalid Al-Otaibi, Safa’a Al-Hashem, Abdullah Al-Kandari, Abdullah Fehad, Naif Al- Ajmi and Mubarak Al-Hajraf submitted a proposal to allocate a session to discuss the plan of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in light of the coronavirus crisis.

The MPs pointed out that they want to discuss the situation of scholarships for both public and private educational institutions, role of the ministry in dealing with the issue of fees collected by private schools and universities, readiness of the ministry for the next academic year in case the crisis lasts long, and how the ministry responded to the recommendations of the Assembly during the grilling of Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Saud Al-Harbi earlier.

In addition, MP Osama Al-Shaheen forwarded queries to Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah regarding the decision of the Health Ministry, in coordination with the Central Agency for Information Technology, to launch the ‘shlonek’ (how are you) application to track and determine the location of citizens and residents returning to Kuwait during the 14 days home quarantine period.

He pointed out the ministry uses the application to collect information such as the samples taken from citizens and residents and private data like their photographs and that of their relatives. He asked about the mechanism adopted by the ministry and agency to destroy such private data and protect the privacy of the citizens and residents.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff and Agencies