KUWAIT CITY, Feb 5: MP Abdul Karim Al-Kandari asked Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Yusuf Al-Sabah about the expected number of foreigners entering the country given the decision to open the family visa; projected cost for the State in terms of subsidies, health services and other public services; the rationale behind allowing this number of foreigners to enter the country; investment plans in this regard for the benefit of the public treasury; impact of the decision on the State’s plans to control the demographic composition, proportions of workers and nationalities in the country; bases of the conditions for obtaining a family visa and the exemptions from these conditions; and mechanism to verify the authenticity of the educational certificates of those who wish to apply for a family visa and if their degree matches their line of work in the country.

Meanwhile, the ordinary parliamentary sessions slated for Tuesday and Wednesday will tackle the following: - Request of the government to increase the annual budget for the head of State by KD50 million to cover the relevant expenses, - Election of the members of some committees, - Formation of new committees, - Vote on the minutes of the previous sessions, - Incoming letters, - Parliamentary queries, - Bill on reforming constituencies, - Bill on amending the Foreigners Residency Law, - Amiri speech at the inaugural session in the current year of the 17th parliamentary term, - Reports of the fact-finding committee tasked to investigate violations in the armament deals -- Eurofighter and Caracal helicopters.

Until now, there is no assurance that the reports of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee on the proposals to increase the cost of living allowance from KD120 to KD250 per month and the zero interest loans for retirees to be equal to 15 times their pension will be discussed in the upcoming sessions due to the conservative position of the government — that the implementation of both bills will exhaust the public budget.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Yusuf Al-Sabah will lead the government in the upcoming session; as HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is currently outside the country, so HH the Deputy Amir and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah is carrying out the tasks of HH the Amir.

On the other hand, MP Khalid Al-Otaibi said there is no time to waste on the “maneuvers“ of the government. He pointed out that bills deemed beneficial for the citizens were discussed thoroughly and studied well; hence, postponing the discussion of these bills in the Assembly is outrightly rejected. He warned that requesting for such postponement could signal the beginning of crises.

MP Badr Nashmi Al-Anzi urged the government to adopt a clear and plain position on the abovementioned bills. He said the Assembly is willing to cooperate with the government, hoping the latter will do the same in the interest of citizens. He added that postponing the discussion of these bills could lead to tension and skepticism. He wondered why the government announced that its work program is ready, as it recently urged the citizens to contribute to laying down the program by sending their priorities to the Cabinet. This means the program is not yet ready, he asserted.

Meanwhile, MP Shuaib Shaaban forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Yusuf Al-Sabah about the Kuwait Army Fund case. He stated this is one of the biggest corruption cases, in which several individuals have been convicted. He added that according to the case filed by the Ministry of Defense on Dec 25, 2023; it includes spying devices and training certain individuals to become spies. He warned this is a threat to national security. He inquired if the Intelligence and Secuirty Directorate at the Kuwait Army formed committees and teams to investigate the aforementioned issues, and if the investigation committees were suspended and their members punished through forced retirement. He also requested for copies of the decisions and directives that the defense minister issued since Jan 1, 2024 till date. In another development, the Education, Culture and Guidance Affairs Committee has approved the proposal of MP Shuaib Shaaban for the education minister to issue a decision obligating the public and private schools to organize tutorial classes for all subjects in the afternoon throughout the academic year.

The proposal stipulates that the schools will collect low fees – maximum of KD5 per session, while the Kuwait Teachers Society should organize cultural programs to raise the students’ awareness about the importance of replacing private tutorial sessions with those organized by the schools. He also suggested giving priority to Kuwaiti teachers in conducting the tutorial sessions. Furthermore, six parliamentary committees discussed various items in their agendas on Monday. The Complaints and Petitions Committee talked about the complaints of several citizens with the representatives of the ministries of Oil, Commerce and Industry in attendance.

The Budgets and Final Accounts Committee deliberated on the proposal for the Central Bank of Kuwait to collect a certain percentage of the annual revenues of public institutions to increase the reserve fund to KD5 billion. Representatives of the Central Bank and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) attended the meeting. The Women, Family and Children Affairs Committee deliberated on the implementation of the law on family abuse and its executive regulations in the presence of Minister of Social, Family and Childhood Affairs Sheikh Feras Al-Sabah, as well as the representatives of the Higher Council for Family Affairs and several civil society organizations. The Health, Social and Labor Affairs Committee discussed the bills on amending Public Aid Law No. 12/2011 and adding Article 15bis to Infectious Diseases Prevention Law number 8/1969 with the representatives of the ministries of Finance, Health and Social Affairs.

The Human Resources Committee discussed the bills on amending Civil Service Law No. 15/1979 to allow public sector employees to work in the private sector or manage their businesses, in addition to their current jobs. Representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Civil Service Commission (CSC) were present at the meeting. The Committee for Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Empowerment in Public Institutions discussed the bills on amending the Electronic Transactions Law and the establishment of the Public Authority for Artificial Intelligence.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff