KUWAIT CITY, Nov 11: The Parliamentary Coordination Committee has specified the bills that will be discussed in the second round of the 17th legislative term from Nov 14, 2023 to June 25, 2024. MP Abdullah Fehad revealed that these bills include 16 priorities of the legislature and 14 priorities of the government as follows: Nov 14, 2023:

increasing the minimum amount of pension, the daily cost of living allowance, the maximum amount of no-interest loans, real estate agencies, and fees for occupying public plots;

Nov 28, 2023: amendment of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Disabled Affairs laws, and North Zone Bill;

Dec 12, 2023: real estate financing, rehabilitation of those convicted of offending crimes, cancellation of local agents, and establishing companies for advanced oil industries;

Dec 19, 2023: amendment of constituencies and Foreigners Residency Law;

Jan 9, 2024: amendment of Kuwait Airways Corporation and Legal Profession laws, and filling up vacant senior official positions;

Jan 23, 2024: amendment of the National Assembly Law and treaty on Kuwait joining Asian Bank;

Feb 6, 2024: strategic alternative to the salary scale and amendment of the Traffic Law;

Feb 13, 2024: increasing public aid and the national labor allowance for Kuwaitis working in the private sector registered under Chapter Five of the Public Institution for Social Security Law;

March 3, 2024: amendment of the Central Agency for Public Tenders Law and revision of the tenders floated by the Ministry of Health for the supply of medicines;

March 19, 2024: development of health services, and imposing tax on major companies and harmful commodities;

April 2, 2024: compensation for the owners of small and medium enterprises, and amendment of the Procedures Act;

April 16, 2024: establishment of a public authority for managing and investing public real estate properties;

April 30, 2024: developing education;

May 14, 2024: organizing the judiciary; May 28, 2024: amendment of the Governorates Law;

June 11, 2024: amendment of the Legal Advice and Legislation Department Law, and State lawsuits;

June 25, 2024: amendment of the General Department of Criminal Investigations Law.

Meanwhile, the Political Affairs Permanent Committee at the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) has unanimously approved the proposal of the Kuwaiti parliamentarian delegation to strengthen its commitment to international and bilateral treaties. The proposal has been included in the agenda of the APA session scheduled for Nov 26 in Antalya, Türkiye.

Member of the Kuwaiti delegation to the committee meetings in Iraq MP Dawoud Maarefi said the proposal is one of the priorities of the delegation, in addition to supporting the Palestinian issue. He confirmed that the Kuwaiti delegation organized a series of meetings to obtain the support of Asian and Gulf delegations for the proposal, which is aimed at reassuring certain parties about the status of some international and bilateral treaties. He stressed that the Kuwait National Assembly rejects any attempt to influence the Kuwaiti sovereignty as per the international treaties. He said Kuwait rejects the inappropriate calls of some Iraqi MPs regarding Abdullah Bay and Durrah offshore oilfield. On the other hand, MP Mehalhal Al-Mudhaf disclosed that he will file a grilling motion against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah.

The motion shall focus on the following issues: n Failure to comply with the instructions stated in the speech that HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah delivered on behalf of HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in June 2022 on the need to start a new era

■ General strategy of the government;

■ Vacant senior official positions and ways to fill them up. Al-Mudhaf revealed that he decided to file the grilling motion due to the way the government reacts to parliamentary queries. He pointed out that he forwarded queries to HH the Prime Minister, but instead of receiving the answers, he got a letter from the Cabinet informing him that the queries were unconstitutional. He went on to say that the government of HH Prime Minister did not meet the expectations of the citizens in terms of addressing external issues, especially the ruling of the Iraqi Federal Court on the Abdullah Bay case and the illegal demands of Iran about its alleged share in the Durah offshore field.

He concluded the government failed to carry out its tasks despite the unlimited support of the political leadership and the legislature. In addition, HH the Prime Minister said the queries that MPs Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Mehalhal Al-Mudhaf, Jarrah Al-Fawzan, Hassan Jawhar, Osama Al-Zaid, and Abdulhadi Al-Ajmi forwarded to him are unconstitutional. Al-Ghanim asked about the reasons for not filling up vacant senior official positions in every ministry, public institution, and their subsidiaries from Aug 1, 2022, until the date of presenting the queries. Al-Mudhaf inquired about the steps taken to implement the contents of the Amiri Speech in June 2022, Jawar requested a copy of the government’s draft of the strategic alternative to the salary scale, and Al-Fawzan wants to know the categories of beneficiaries of the strategic alternative to the salary scale and their number.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff