Kuwaiti MPs refute claims by Israeli Knesset: Speaker Ghanem
GENEVA: The Kuwaiti delegation have refuted allegations by the Israeli Knesset, complaints by a former Kuwaiti MP and a current lawmaker, said Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem yesterday. “We have refuted those allegations and I assure everyone that Kuwait and its parliament’s reputation is intact and no one could tarnish it,” said Ghanem, who arrived in Geneva last Wednesday heading a delegation to respond to these claims, filed with InterParliamentary Union (IPU).
The National Assembly chief had also met IPU President Gabriela Cuevas Barron and Secretary General Martin Chungong on the sidelines of his attendance of the union’s executive committee session. “Both IPU President and Secretary General, as well as the union’s human rights director appreciated our interaction and response to those allegations, as it is a matter of choice, some parliaments choose to respond, others prefer not to,” Ghanem told reporters.
“Yet, out of keenness on Kuwait’s reputation, we saw that it was our duty to refute such claims that aim to smear the country’s parliament. “In a month’s period, we will present an inclusive response to the IPU on the matter. In this vein, I wish to thank my fellow MPs for efforts exerted throughout meetings with IPU senior officials.”
In addition to the Knesset, MP Shuaib AlMuwaizri and former MP Abdulhameed Dashti have both filed complaints against the Kuwaiti parliament. Meanwhile, Ghanem said that he represented the Arab geopolitical group at the IPU executive committee, which includes other geopolitical groups, in addition to the IPU chair and secretary general. Participants in the meeting discussed a number of topics, he said.
The Kuwaiti delegation, including Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Parliamentary Caucus Rakan Al-Nisf, presented elaborate presentation of a proposal to modify the IPU constituent law, where the union could address a warning, then suspend membership or dismiss parliaments that fail to abide by the IPU principles, which are strongly bonded with UN resolutions.
“Everyone knows that there have been multiple unimplemented UN resolutions regarding our just Arab and Islamic causes, thus parliamentary and parliamentary diplomacy must focus on effective resolutions by the IPU so that this organization won’t turn into an institution that issues resolutions with no respect by the parliaments,” Ghanem said.
“I believe that everybody knows who we point at and know our strategy, for we are pursuing our national, Islamic project as a Kuwaiti parliament and we are not afraid to be the spearhead and we won’t be harmed by any harassments or bids or complaints from here and there and we are capable by Allah’s will to confront these matters and we attain our objective sooner or later,” the speaker elaborated. The delegation accompanying Ghanem included lawmakers Rakan AlNesef, Ali Al-Deghbasi, Khalil Abul and Allam Al-Kanderi.