MP Subaie says all ministers could be grilled
KUWAIT: Opposition MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie threatened that all ministers could be grilled in the next parliamentary term starting next October and urged them to tackle alleged violations in the summer recess. He warned that the next term is expected to witness tense relations between the assembly and the government, adding that there will be a sufficient number of MPs for no-confidence votes in ministers.
The lawmaker said that he himself will grill the ministers of oil, finance and commerce and industry over a variety of alleged violations and called on the ministers to take the necessary measures to avoid the grillings.
Subaie said that he has decided to file to grill Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rasheedi if he does not force a number of top executives at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) to go into retirement in accordance with the law. He said that it was the current CEO of KPC Nizar Al-Adsani who proposed and enacted the retirement law which stipulates that top executives who complete 30 years of service should go into retirement. The lawmaker said that Adsani and the current leadership implemented the law on several leading oil officials but when their turn has come, they have reportedly asked for a five-year extension.
Subaie said that the minister has three months to force those executives to step down based on the law otherwise he will submit to grill him in December or January. He also urged the minister to tackle a number of other violations in the oil sector. The lawmaker also said he plans to grill Finance Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf if he does not take the necessary measures against the board of directors of the Kuwait Airways affiliate CASCO for committing several violations. He said he has already drawn the attention of the ministers to the violations and warned that the board members must be referred to the public prosecution over the financial violations.
Subaie also threatened to grill Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan if he fails to take action against officials under his supervision for a number of violations. He said the ministers have ample time to deal with such violations and avoid the questioning in the assembly.