13/02/2022
11287 times read
13/02/2022
11287 times read
Cancellation of latest version of election law eyed
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 13: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim invited the MPs to the special session slated for Tuesday as per the request of 10 MPs to discuss and vote on the report of the Interior and Defense Affairs Committee about the bill on amending National Assembly Election Law No. 35/1962. The proposal stipulates cancellation of the amended version of the abovementioned law (Law No. 27/2016), which prohibits those convicted of offending the Heavenly Entity (God), Prophets (Peace be Upon Them) and Amiri entity from contesting the parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee on Sunday discussed the proposed establishment of a fund for compensating the victims of real estate fraud. Committee Chairman MP Ahmed Al- Hamad disclosed that the committee asked the representatives of the government to provide certain documents and data; including the number of cases, total amount of losses, and other information that the committee requested from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
He said the committee will continue the discussion in its next meeting after obtaining the requested documents and information. He added the committee also tackled the role of the government in organizing real estate exhibitions, which resulted in many real estate fraud cases and caused major damages to a large number of citizens who trusted the organizers of the exhibitions and the censorship of the government. He revealed the second part of the meeting discussed the directive of the Assembly for the committee to investigate the illegal withdrawal of money at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in which the organizing unit was found to have violated Law No. 2/1995. He said the committee decided to invite representatives of the concerned institutions; such as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait Banks Union, and Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to its meeting on March 6, 2022.
In another development, MP Abdullah Al- Turaiji gave Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Ali Al- Musa some weeks to take legal action against those involved in corruption at the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR); otherwise, the minister will be held politically accountable. Al-Turaiji previously asked Al-Musa if any of the farms owned by former Chairman of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) Fahd Al-Rajaan and his wife were transferred to other individuals or companies. He received the answer confirming that some farms were transferred – a violation of the circular issued by the Public Prosecution to seize the properties of Al-Rajaan and his wife. He gave Al-Musa a grace period of two weeks to tackle this violation, which was committed by the PAAAFR chairman.
On the other hand, MP Muhannad Al-Sayer praised Health Minister Dr Khaled Al-Saeed for his cooperation and his approval of the Assembly’s recommendation to ease health regulations related to Covid-19. He called on the Council of Ministers to adopt the recommendations, which refl ect the citizens’ demands. He claimed some parties want the crisis to continue forever, because this situation increases the money in their bank accounts irrespective of the citizens’ suffering. In addition, MP Khalid Al-Anzi submitted a proposal to change the name of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) to Saleh Al-Ujairi Foundation for the Advancement of Science. Moreover, MP Osama Al-Menawer forwarded queries to Minister of Health Dr Khalid Al-Saeed about the number of citizens and expatriates suffering from multiple scelorosis (MS) and epilepsy. He wants to know the criteria for declaring a patient has recovered from these diseases, the recovery percentage, if having any of these two diseases is classified as disability that prevents the patient from doing his job normally, if the ministry sends reports on such cases to the concerned institutions like the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) and Residency Affairs General Department, and the treatment cost. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff