KUWAIT CITY, Feb 10: National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun has invited the government and MPs to the ordinary sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the following: an incoming letter from the Human Resources Committee requesting for extension of its mandate to research and discuss the reasons for the increasing number of nomination letters issued by government agencies, provided that it submits its report before the start of the third session. – Parliamentary questions, – Continuation of the discussion of the Amiri speech and the government’s work program.

On the other hand, the concerned committees’ reports on amending the electoral districts, residency of foreigners, investigation into the Caracal and Eurofighter deals, good loans, cost of living, and children allowances will be tackled on March 5 as per the government’s request with the approval of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, five parliamentary committees will meet on Sunday to deliberate on various items in their agendas. The Public Utilities Committee will discuss the proposal to issue a law on determining the mechanism for allocating and exploiting vacant State-owned lands and investing them, in the presence of representatives of the Kuwait Municipality and Ministry of Finance. The Budgets and Final Accounts Committee will start discussing the general framework of the budget for the new fiscal year -- 2024/2025; in the presence of representatives of the ministries of Finance and Oil, State Audit Bureau (SAB), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Bureau of Financial Controllers (BFC) and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). The Health Affairs Committee will discuss a draft law on charitable work, in the presence of representatives of the ministries of Social Affairs and Foreign Affairs and the charitable societies.

The Education Affairs Committee will discuss the proposed law on establishing the Supreme Education Council and a draft law on the reorganization of the Supreme Education Council submitted by the Ministry of Education. Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Adwani will attend the meeting. The Modern and Remote Areas Development Committee will discuss and follow the services, infrastructure works, and accelerating access to modern and remote areas, in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and KPC. On the other hand, Director of Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) Abdul Aziz Al-Ibrahim confirmed that from April 1 to Sept 30, 2023; the authority monitored several negatives and obstacles related to preventing and combating corruption within the framework of its competencies regulated by law number 2/2016.

In a ‘top secret’ letter he sent to Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun, who included it in the agenda for Tuesday’s session; Al-Ibrahim attached a set of recommendations to activate the implementation of the law and laws related to reducing the obstacles mentioned in the report, prosecuting the corrupt, and recovering State funds.

In another development, MPs commented on the decision of Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Adwani to impose the fingerprint attendance system on teachers.
MP Falah Al-Hajri criticized the decision; pointing out that educational institutions continue to suffer from poor services, while the teachers’ salaries are lower than that of the employees in other ministries. He said the decision worsens the condition of teachers whose attendance is already proven by their presence in classrooms, the oversight entities and the senior officials including the department head, technical supervisor and assistant manager. MP Badr Sayyar Al-Shemmari said three former education ministers realized that it is impossible to implement the fingerprint attendance system for teachers without an integrated organizational structure.

He holds Al-Adwani accountable for any negative consequence of this decision, which will lead to more problems in the educational sector particularly in the administrative, legal and technical aspects. In contrast, MPs Hamad Al-Elyan, Abdulwahab Al-Essa, Fahd Al-Masoud and Jenan Bushehri issued a joint statement supporting the decision of Al-Adwani. They asserted that educational development necessitates the concerted efforts of all the concerned parties. They pointed out that the implementation of the fingerprint attendance system for teachers does not mean doubting the teachers’ sincerity, as it helps ensure fairness in the annual performance assessment and will end disputes over the results. They urged the Ministry of Education to alleviate their worries about the work overload, exacerbated by the additional administrative tasks.

Moreover, MP Muhammad Al- Hewaila submitted a proposal to cancel the administrative decision stating that the secondary school certificate should had been issued maximum of two years ago for the student to enroll in higher education. He explained the decision is a hindrance to Kuwaiti employees who want to pursue higher studies, but their secondary certificates were issued more than two years ago. He underscored the need for the legislative and executive authorities to bear their responsibility in ensuring a prosperous and stable life for the citizens; hence, the importance of ratifying bills included in the agenda of the session slated for March 5, as they play an essential role in achieving social stability. The lawmaker said the citizens have the right to enjoy the financial surplus through the ratification of urgent bills like increasing the cost of living allowance and the minimum amount of zero-interest loans for retirees. He added the Kuwaiti citizen is the victim of the rising prices, which eat up his salary within 10 days; so he is forced to borrow money to cover his family’s needs.

In addition, MP Fahd bin Jame’e has stressed the need to restructure the United Nations (UN) and its Security Council to end their use of double standards, such that they have not hurled any accusation at Israel in the last 75 years the latter has been committing crimes against humanity and human rights. In a press statement after attending the recent meeting of parliamentarians from UN-member nations which was held in cooperation with the International Parliament Union (IPU), Jame’e disclosed that they tackled several important issues including human rights and the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, especially those residing in Gaza. He affirmed that Kuwait -- represented by its political leadership, government and National Assembly -- has adopted a strong and permanent supportive position towards the Palestinian issue since 1948. He emphasized the need for Palestinians to obtain their rights and exercise sovereignty over their entire land. He believes that the diplomacy of Kuwait, Arab and Muslim countries will eventually emerge victorious.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh and Raed Youssef
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff