KUWAIT CITY, March 13: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has invited the MPs and government to the ordinary session slated for Tuesday. The most important item in the agenda of the session is the grilling motion of MPs Hassan Jawhar, Muhannad Al-Sayer and Khalid Al-Otaibi against His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid on these issues: unconstitutional practices of HH the Prime Minister, disrupting work in the interest of citizens, lack of cooperation with the legislative authority, systematic stealing of public funds and squandering of the people’s wealth. In addition, newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Talal Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will also take their constitutional oath during the session.

Other items in the agenda of the session include the resignation of MP Yousef Al-Fadala, program of the government, and reports on the proposed amendment of Penal Code number 16/1960 and Civil Service Law number 15/1979. In another development, Al-Ghanim recently met with Egyptian Speaker of the House of Representatives HanafiAl-Jebali and the latter’s accompanying delegation.

Deputy Speaker Ahmad Al-Shuhoumi, Chairman of the Honor Committee MP Khalid Al-Anzi, MP Mubarak Al-Ajmi, Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait Osama Shaltout and Assembly Secretary General Adel Al-Lugani were also present at the meeting. They discussed the relationship between the two sisterly countries, current regional and international conditions, ways to strengthen parliamentary cooperation, and the need to consolidate positions on issues lined up for discussion in the next Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference that will be held in Indonesia later this month.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the parliamentary Financial and Economic Affairs Committee MP Ahmad Al-Hamad disclosed that the panel discussed Sunday the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s violation of law number 2/1995 regarding the raffle draws organized by some banks. He confirmed the committee continued the discussion with representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in addition to the previous discussion with the Ministry of Finance, Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry KCCI), Kuwait Banks Union and Central Bank of Kuwait. He said the committee will submit its report and recommendations to the Assembly soon. He revealed the committee also talked about the bills concerning retirees. He said the committee classified these bills into three: increasing the minimum pension, increasing the regular increment of pension, and distributing part of the profits of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) to the retirees.

He quoted Minister of Finance and State Minister for Economic and Investment Affairs Abdulwahab Al- Rashid as saying the government will soon submit a bill on granting financial reward to the retirees but he did not specify the amount. He confirmed the committee has finalized discussions on bills regarding real estate fraud, indicating the report in this regard will be submitted to the Assembly for inclusion in the agenda of the following session. He added the report includes solutions for the victims of real estate fraud.

Furthermore, MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri strongly criticized the decision of the government to allow the governorates to receive donations from other countries. He said the government has caused damages to everything including the reputation of Kuwait in the international community due to such a decision. He argued that receiving donations from other countries does not bode well for Kuwait, considering it is a rich country which has been producing oil for more than 70 years. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff