‘PM to attend special session’

KUWAIT CITY, May 17: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim congratulated the entire nation on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, indicating this year’s celebration was marred by the Zionist entity’s attacks on Muslim and Christian worship places in Palestine.

In a press statement, Al-Ghanim disclosed that the National Assembly Office discussed Monday the proposal of several MPs to hold a special session to tackle the latest developments regarding the Palestinian issue and decide on the procedures that will be taken in this regard.

He said His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid agreed to attend the special session scheduled for next week, clarifying the date will be specified later.

He also contacted Speaker of the International Parliament Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco to arrange a meeting with the speakers of various Arab and Islamic countries in order to finalize procedures for dealing with the crimes committed by Israel and violations committed by the Knesset – the unicameral national legislature of Israel.

Report

He added the National Assembly Office asked the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee to quickly complete its report on the bill banning any sort of normalization of relations between Kuwait and the Zionist entity.

He said the National Assembly Office also discussed the proposal to hold a special session to discuss the incentive for frontline workers, adding that the Parliamentary Priorities Committee asked its budgets and final accounts counterpart to immediately complete its report on the proposal which will be discussed in the session.

He then urged the government to cooperate by responding to the questions of the committee to pave way for voting on the bill during the session.

In addition, the position of Czech Ambassador to Kuwait Martin Dvorák in support of Israel regarding the issue of the recent violent acts against Palestinians has drawn criticism from the lawmakers.

MP Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi said such a position provoked the feelings of Kuwaitis and challenged the permanent position of the Kuwaiti political leadership against Israel.  He called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the necessary action against such an unprecedented attitude which violates diplomatic rules.

MP Abdullah Al-Mudaf urged the ministry to respond to what he regards as humiliation of the people of Kuwait. He stressed that supporting the Palestinian cause is the permanent position of Kuwait on both the public and official levels.

MP Osama Al-Menawer cited diplomatic traditions, asserting that diplomatic delegations must protect the interests of host countries and then called for the dismissal of the ambassador.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen disclosed that he contacted senior officials at the ministry who promised to investigate the issue, stressing that a position in support of the Zionist entity is unacceptable.

MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said the provocative position of the ambassador violates diplomatic rules; hence, the ministry should declare him ‘persona non-grata’.

In another development, the Elections General Department at the Ministry of Interior has announced that 15 citizens will contest the supplementary elections slated for May 22 to fill the parliamentary seat vacated by former MP Bader Al-Dahoum.

Al-Dahoum’s parliamentary membership was cancelled when the Constitutional Court ruled in this regard. He then filed an appeal at the Court of Cassation.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs Khalifa Hamada responded to the queries of MP Marzouq Al-Khalifa about the profits of Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB), Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC), Public Authority for Industry (PAI), Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA), Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).  He asked about the amount of revenues retained by these institutions, reasons for retention and entities responsible for such action.

According to KCB, its profits are directly handed over to the Public Reserve Fund as per law number 30/1965; while KNPC retained KD 7.750 billion as per an agreement to pay the Ministry of Finance in installments, PAI handed over its profits to the ministry, KPA retained KD108,600,000 and the ministry has instructed it to hand over retained revenues for fiscals 2017/2018 to 2019/2020, CBK’s profits are transferred to the Public Treasury only if the amount reaches KD 1 billion and it has yet to reach this ceiling, and KFAED transfers its profits to the Public Reserve Fund only if the amount exceeds its capital.

The entities responsible for handing over these revenues are the boards of directors of KCB, PAI, KPA, CBK and KFAED; in addition to the Supreme Petroleum Council of KNPC.

Queries

On the other hand, MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf forwarded queries to Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Al-Salman about the delayed completion of projects at Shuaib, Doha, Shuwaikh and Mubarak Al-Kabeer ports.  He wants to know if the corresponding penalties were imposed on the contractors in charge of these projects.

MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji forwarded queries to Minister of Interior Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah about the number of female foreigners who obtained the Kuwaiti nationality after being married to Kuwaiti citizens for the last five years, number of citizens with more than one non-Kuwaiti wife, number of divorce cases among Kuwaitis with foreign wives after the latter acquired the Kuwaiti nationality, number of these women who retained the Kuwaiti citizenship after divorce, and the origins of foreign women married to Kuwaitis.

Moreover, MP Saad Al-Khanfour submitted a proposal to repair the roads in Farwaniya, Ashbeliya, Rehab and Ferdous; taking into consideration the rising number of residents and vehicles which necessitate the development of roads in these areas.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh

Arab Times Staff