MPs raise their hands during a parliamentary session in Kuwait City on March 29. Lawmakers on Tuesday endorsed amending Law No. 69/2015 regarding the establishment of a shareholding company to bring in domestic help from abroad and turned over the amended version to the government for final perusal.

KUWAIT CITY, March 29: The Parliament, in its regular session Tuesday, approved the proposal to amend law number 69/2015 on the establishment of a closed joint stock company for the recruitment of domestic workers in the first and second readings. Article One of the bill stipulates changing the first paragraph of first article of the law to read as follows:

“A closed joint stock company shall be established for the recruitment of domestic workers and its profits should not be more than 10 percent of the total cost of hiring domestic workers.”

The same article also states allocating 10 percent of the company’s shares for Kuwait Investment Authority, Public Institution for Social Security, Public Authority for Minors Affairs, Kuwait Airways Corporation or its affiliate companies and 60 percent for the Consumer Cooperative Societies Union.

On another issue, Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance and acting Minister of Oil Anas Al-Saleh said the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has laid down a mechanism to increase the number of Kuwaiti employees in government institutions and limit the recruitment of expatriates in some administrative units.

In response to a question on the appointment of advisors and experts in certain fields in many ministries, Al-Saleh explained such appointments are in line with the Civil Service Law and other related regulations.

He disclosed the law allows appointing maximum of five advisors in the office of every minister, indicating some offices need those experts in order to benefit from their expertise and experiences.

Meanwhile, the Parliament referred the report of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee the proposal to amend Article 16 of Act Number 106/2013 on combating money laundering and financing terrorism to the Budget and Final Accounts Committee for further study and a report in this regard should be presented to the Parliament within two weeks.

The bill stipulates the need to determine the type of budget for the unit in charge of combating money laundering and financing terrorism, such that it enjoys financial and administrative independence in carrying out its tasks.

MPs LIFT DASHTI IMMUNITYFurthermore, the Parliament approved the request of the Public Prosecution to lift the immunity of MP Dr Abdul Hameed Dashti due to two cases filed against him — one for offending the Kingdom of Bahrain and the other is about a dud check.

Commenting on the first case, Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al- Hamad Al-Sabah asserted the Kuwaiti government “always walks the talk” when it comes to national security and respect for neighboring countries. He outrightly denied the allegation that the government is idle, stressing the ministry is exerting tremendous efforts to maintain stability of the nation and protect its relations with neighboring countries.

During the discussion, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi affirmed his support for the decision of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee to lift the immunity of Dashti. He claimed the government is the main reason behind the repetition of actions deemed offensive to other GCC countries. He pointed out the government did not act accordingly when Dashti released his statement, yet it was forced to take action when the Kingdom of Bahrain issued a verdict. He also expressed dissatisfaction over some of his colleagues who are against lifting the immunity of Dashti.

In response, these MPs including MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi stated there have been numerous occasions when Dashti uttered statements contrary to the views of the Parliament and they all argued against him, but he is entitled to his personal opinion outside the legislature and such statement does not represent that of the legislative authority.

Nonetheless, only a handful of MPs are against the decision of the committee as the majority supports it, including MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji who claimed that when Dashti was in London he used the vehicle of the Iranian Embassy and this implies he is a ‘tool’ in the hands of other countries. He added that based on information obtained from the State Security Department, Dashti met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

In another development, MPs Ahmad Al-Qudaibi and Mubarak Al-Hurais submitted a request to grill Minister of Commerce and Industry Yousif Al- Ali as per articles 100 and 101 of the Constitution to Speaker Marzouq Al- Ghanim. The grilling points include the minister’s alleged misusage of his authority in dealing with the purported violations concerning gravel plots and delayed activation of the national fund to support small and medium enterprises. This grilling motion will be included in the agenda of the session slated for April 12, 2016.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim and Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff