Two MPs plan to grill info minister

KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s acting speaker refused to receive a request by opposition MPs Abdulkarim AlKandari and Riyadh Al-Adasani on Thursday to grill the information minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. The rejection came because the request was submitted after the official time and after consultations with the constitutional experts.

The two lawmakers allege that Sheikh Mohammad has committed a series of financial and administrative violations as a minister of information and as a state minister for cabinet affairs. The two MPs plan to file the grilling again after the weekend holiday today.

MP Kandari confirmed that the grilling request will be submitted during working hours, adding that the political questioning has become effective as of now. The lawmaker said that it is not possible to leave the information minister in his place while violations continued after a grilling against former information minister Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah led to his dismissal early this year. Kandari said that in case of a cabinet reshuffle or including Sheikh Mohammad in another ministerial post, it will trigger a constitutional dilemma, adding that he will be grilled immediately regardless of his new post.

MP Adasani said part of the grilling focuses on fees paid to the chamber of commerce and industry which is not an official body and the large stockpiles in the ministry which the minister failed to deal with. He warned that any question to ministers and is not answered will be transformed into a grilling. Adasani strongly lashed out at a parliamentary committee studying issues raised during the grillings against the prime minister this year and accused some members of trying to shield the premier. He warned against attempts to discuss the findings of the committee in public in the National Assembly saying this is a clear attempt by some MPs to protect the prime minister, adding that