KUWAIT CITY, July 15: The Public Prosecutor has issued a search and arrest warrant against former MP Mubarak Al-Duwailah on the background of ‘leaked conversation’ with the late Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi which happened in the latter’s tent, reports Al-Qabas daily.

A source familiar with the Al- Qabas daily said that the Ministry of Interior has received orders for the former parliamentarian’s arrest and a security force is expected to shortly implement the order. Both the executive and legislative authorities have no right to suspend parliamentary sessions for more than one month, says MP Abdullah Al- Kandari.

Al-Kandari pointed out this is the sole right of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as per Article 106 of the Constitution. He stressed the urgent need to hold parliamentary sessions for the National Assembly to follow up and monitor measures being taken by the government especially in this period.

He said several bills must be approved immediately in the interest of citizens. He argued it is unacceptable to suspend parliamentary sessions under the pretext that five or six MPs are infected with coronavirus. He pointed out a larger number of people are infected with coronavirus in the Judicial Authority and different public institutions, but this did not lead to suspension of work in these institutions. He also emphasized the importance of Amending Articles 66 and 67 of the Assembly Decree to allow online parliamentary sessions. In a related development, MP Ahmed Al-Fadl denied the rumor that he, MP Muhammad Al-Dallal and MP Naif Al-Merdas are infected with coronavirus.

Meanwhile, MP Osama Al-Shaheen praised Minister of Finance Barrak Al-Shitan and Director General of Kuwait Customs General Administration (KCGA) Counselor Jamal Al-Jallal for the decision to exempt personal shipments valued at less than KD 100 from customs fees. He then called for cancellation of fees for customs release of personal shipments to better serve citizens and residents.

He added that he forwarded queries to State Minister for Services and Cabinet Affairs Mubarak Al- Harees about the deterioration of postal services offered by the public sector in the last two decades. He underscored the need to develop public postal services and punish the officials behind the loss of shipments and delayed deliveries. He said the citizens and residents resorted to private postal companies because of the poor services provided by the public sector.

In addition, MP Ahmad Al-Fadl urged Al-Jallal to solve the problem of citizens and residents who paid exorbitant customs fees for personal shipments. He disclosed the citizens expected to pay about five percent as customs fee, but they were surprised when they were charged very high fees.

He said a citizen showed him a receipt for KD 7 customs fee for a shipment valued KD 25 – around 28 percent of the value of the shipment. He affirmed he is aware that intermediary companies are collecting fees, but KCGA must control this, because such companies should focus on improving services rather than increasing the cost for citizens.

Moreover, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi forwarded queries to Minister of Health Dr Basel Al-Sabah about the rumors spread on mainstream and social media platforms that the expatriate doctors stranded abroad due to the coronavirus crisis continue to receive the shift allowance despite the fact that they have been on leave since the beginning of the crisis.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff