KUWAIT CITY, March 22: The parliamentary Human Resources Affairs Committee on Tuesday discussed the job advertisement and recruitment procedures adopted by Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) in the last three years. Rapporteur of the committee MP Ahmad Mutei Al- Azmi disclosed that Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs Abdulwahab Al-Rashid and the KAC Board of Directors chairman neither attended the meeting nor apologized for their absence. He then urged the ministers to be responsible and attend the meetings of committees for the latter to complete their reports. He invited Minister of Justice and Minister of State for the Enhancement of Integrity (Nazaha) to the next meeting of the committee to tackle the recruitment procedures followed by the Experts Department at the Ministry of Justice over the past few years.

He said the committee has also been tasked to investigate the recruitment procedures adopted by Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and its subsidiaries in the last three years. He affirmed the committee already sent invitations to the concerned ministers, stressing the importance of their presence in panel meetings. Meanwhile, Assembly Observer MP Osama Al- Shaheen on Tuesday met with Deputy Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) Arlie Taylor and Director of Research and Evaluation at WFD Dr Graeme Ramshaw who were accompanied by Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Kuwait Sunny Ahmed and Head of the Political Section at the embassy Matt Nottingham.

They talked about the democratic experience of Kuwait and ways to develop parliamentary work. In another development, MP Abdullah Al-Mudhaf asked Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Muhammad Al-Fares about the procedures followed by the Legal Advice and Legislation Department in responding to the request of public institutions to issue its legal opinion on various issues. He wants to know if it is possible to change the legal opinion on two cases although the data provided for both cases are the same; measures taken in case it is proven that the opinion issued by the department is wrong; if the department has a database of all the opinions it has issued so far; reason why the department and Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) issued different opinions about a certain case on Nov 6, 2020 and Oct 20, 2021 respectively; if any of the two opinions has been withdrawn; and why the department and Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) issued different opinions about a case on Dec 30, 2021 and Jan 13, 2022 respectively.

Moreover, Assembly Secretary General Adel Al- Lughani attended the meeting of parliamentary secretaries general, which was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 144th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). He said they discussed the successful experience of parliaments, adding that he looked into the Indonesian Parliament’s experience in conserving energy by using solar panels in the legislative building. He added they also talked about the bills submitted to IPU, including the proposals to develop youth parliaments and increase the number of female parliamentarians from 22 percent to 26 percent. In addition, member of the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation to the 144th Assembly of IPU MP Hesham Al-Saleh attended the meeting of the Permanent Committee for Democracy and Human Rights. He disclosed that the delegation highlighted the role of Kuwait in supporting refugees and organizing forums of donor countries in a bid to help refugees. He said the delegation confirmed that Kuwait has adopted the necessary international legislation to support human rights and refugee issues. Lastly, Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim congratulated Sheikha Dr Suad Al-Sabah for the award she received from the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) during its Eighth Assembly hosted by Tunisia with the theme ‘Arab Poetry Today’. He praised the exemplary role that Sheikha Dr Suad Al-Sabah has been playing in the development of culture and literature for decades. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff