MP finishes grilling draft of Al-Roudhan By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb
Trump faulted
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10: MP Al-Humaidi AlSubai’i has completed the draft of his interpellation request against Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan.
The lawmaker intends to submit the request once the interpellations against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad AlSabah are completed on Oct 30.
Parliamentary sources hinted on cooperation between Al-Subai’i and MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf who previously announced his intention to grill the same minister. Since the MPs have similar grilling points – small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the industrial lots issue, they will most likely join hands in grilling the minister, sources added.
The interpellation motions are still in the preparation stage but there are movements towards gathering parliamentary supporters. Some MPs are still hopeful considering the minister’s efforts in improving the work environment and development of SMEs with the approval of food trucks.
In another development, during a forum held recently at the Diwaniya for Political Dialogues, former MP Mubarak Al-Duwaila voiced confusion over the recent statements of US President Donald Trump. He said Trump appears to have disregarded the fact that the countries he mentioned are sovereign and independent countries. He urged everyone to voice objection to such statements, especially since the American president delivered the speech without any shred of political finesse.
The former MP asserted that the country did not forget the efforts exerted by the US in liberating Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion, but it does not mean they are exempted from observing political manners. He argued the US never provided anything for free, including the Operation Desert Storm when the cost of transporting every single American soldier was shouldered by GCC countries.
On the other hand, the court’s decision to incarcerate MPs Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Jam’an Al-Harbash has divided the National Assembly. Although the official stance of the Assembly, according to Deputy Speaker MP Eissa Al-Kandari, is to respect the judicial authority; some MPs have been gathering to form a movement to push for enactment of the General Amnesty Law.
Prompted by the statement of MP Mohammed Hayef who described every MP that stands against the General Amnesty Law as “cheap or low,” MP Ahmed Al-Fadel in a press conference at the Assembly Media Center asserted that such language is not acceptable.
He cited Paragraph Two of Article 82 of the Constitution stipulating every candidate should be qualified in accordance with the Electoral Law. Since Article Two of the Electoral Law stipulates that an eligible candidate should have no criminal record of misdemeanor, the two MPs are in violation of the law, he argued. He stressed these are “the two MPs that Hayef is trying to defend.”
Based on the statement of Hayef, anyone who abides by the laws of the country and its Constitution is “cheap or low,” Al-Fadel concluded.
Furthermore, MP Omar AlTabtabaei reaffirmed his commitment to follow up issues concerning the Ministry of Oil. He revealed he is preparing another set of queries to address issues which, he believes, are results of mismanagement and violation of the law.
He wondered why the ministry spends millions of Kuwaiti dinars on leadership programs
only for the higher management to recruit officials from outside, thinking it is due to the growing distrust in management as a result of some employees leaking information to the Assembly.
On Vietnam refineries, the MP disclosed he is baffled by how some individuals think of the delay in operations like a delay in the construction of a house. He added the minister of oil announced earlier that operations will commence by the end of September; but the International Marketing Department at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) said the company has yet to receive payment from this account.