KUWAIT CITY, April 28: The National Assembly Office on Monday approved the recommendation to hold special legislative sessions for the approval of urgent bills.

In a press conference after the Assembly Office meeting chaired by Speaker Marzouq Al- Ghanim with 24 MPs in attendance, Al-Ghanim disclosed that majority of the MPs approved the abovementioned recommendation; while a few rejected it.

He said those who voiced objection argued that the Kuwaiti legislative authority is like other parliaments all over the world, which suspended their sessions due to the measures taken by health authorities to curb the spread of coronavirus.

They also pointed out that holding online sessions is not possible due to the absence of electronic platforms and the need to amend the Assembly Decree, he added.

Al-Ghanim concluded the press conference by announcing that the Assembly Office has been tasked to set the dates for the special sessions.

Meanwhile, MP Abdulkareem Al- Kandari submitted a bill to amend Article 20 of Decree Number 30/1978 on real estate rent.

The bill stipulates suspending the eviction of tenants who are unable to pay the rent in order to reduce pressure on courts in charge of such cases.

The bill also states that the rental fee should be in accordance with the Civil Code and Rent Law.

On the other hand, MP Ahmed Al- Fadl expects that one session will be held during Ramadan to deliberate on bills regarding the coronavirus crisis, particularly those related to health and the economy; in addition to the bills addressing the lopsided demographic structure and labor cities.

Monopoly
He added the next sessions will most likely be held after Eid Al- Fitr to discuss other bills, including the Competitiveness Protection Bill which is aimed at solving many important issues such as combating monopoly.

In another development, MP Muhammad Haif forwarded questions to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anas Al-Saleh regarding some MPs who allegedly impeded the referral of some visa trading files to the Public Prosecution. He asked the minister to confirm whether this is true or not. If yes, he demanded for a list of MPs involved in the issue and pieces of evidence.
In addition, MP Muhammad Al- Dallal submitted questions to Minister of Social Affairs Mariam Al- Aqeel on the dissolution of the boards of directors of Fahd Al-Ahmad and Jabriya cooperative societies.

He wants to know the reasons behind such a decision, if the ministry referred the file to the Public Prosecution, and if it issued written warnings to the boards of the abovementioned cooperatives.

He inquired why the ministry did not appoint additional members of the boards to be in charge of financial issues, instead of appointing general managers to replace the dissolved boards.

He wondered if one person could replace a board of directors, especially since cooperatives play a vital role under the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Moreover, MP Osama Al-Shaheen praised the decision of Minister of Information and State Minister for Youth Affairs Muhammad Al-Jabri who refused to grant a license for a television series, because it promotes normalizing relations with the Zionist entity.

He stressed that the official and popular position of Kuwait is to strongly reject any attempt to normalize relations with Israel at all levels and in all fields -- political, commercial and cultural among others.

He also lauded the decision of Al- Jabri to form a committee to investigate the allegation that the content of a series being shown on Kuwait TV is deemed offensive to the residents of Failaka Island. He issued a directive on assigning a certain committee to review scripts, especially those tackling historic events and Kuwaiti traditions.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff