Government working on draft laws during Parliament recess
Oil sector ‘heading in wrong direction’: Al-Subaiei
Inauguration of ‘Positive and Psychological Well-being’ training course in Hawally
Education Zone, Salah Al Deen Secondary School. Sheikha Intisaar Salem Al Ali in a group photo with officials of Hawally Education
Zone. KUWAIT CITY, Aug 25: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas AlSaleh said that the government “has been working on several axes during the holiday, including the preparation and completion of a number of draft laws,” hoping the same to be approved in the next Parliament session, reports Al-Rai daily.
Al-Saleh told the daily out the features of the government’s plan during the summer vacation, which was announced at the end of the last session, to refer a number of bills to the National Assembly prepared by the government during the past two months.
The draft laws include amend to the Public Authority for Combating Corruption (Nazaha) including the most important amendment will be to add segments covered by financial disclosure, and conditions for appointment of board members to the Board of Trustees, as well as the right of the authority to appeal against the decision of the Public Prosecution.
This is in addition to a draft law on authentication, so that the amendment allows professional companies to carry out documentation work and also enable the completion of authentication of transactions electronically.
Another draft law which will be submitted for approval is the law of protection of competition, the most prominent points of the amendment will be to tightening the penal penalties in matters related to noncooperation with the authority by not providing the required
information and data or providing false information.
The government will also submit an amendment to the draft law on rights of persons with disabilities, in terms of diagnosing the disability by a team of experts or rather specialists and to ensure the entitlement of Kuwaiti women who care for a child with disability and increasing the entitlement of relief hours for a staff member who cares for a child or husband with severe or moderate disability.
And finally a draft law for amending the Nationality Law.
Al-Saleh said that a draft law on the prohibition of conflicts of interest is being prepared after taking into account the observations of the Constitutional Court ruling in this regard, noting that there are other bills in the process of preparation and drafting will be referred to the National Assembly as soon as the preparation is complete.
He stressed that the relevant bills are in support of efforts to combat corruption and promote transparency which are the priorities for the government.
The most important draft law is amending the provisions of Law 2 of 2016 on the establishment of the Public Authority for Combating Corruption and the provisions on disclosure of financial disclosure.
MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaiei has expressed his conviction that the oil sector is “heading in the wrong direction,” and said the sector and its leaders are “under scrutiny, monitoring and continuous parliamentary follow-up, as I pledged at the end of the last session,” reports Al-Qabas daily
Al-Subaie said the oil sector is under the microscope, especially in cases of employment and consultancy contracts and did not rule out holding Oil Minister Khalid Al-Fadhil accountable, stressing at the same time that “the minister is diligent, but the problem lies in the leaders.”
Al-Subaie told the daily, the senior officials in oil sector have formed committees for filling the vacant positions through promotions, but when they discover that the applicants are not affiliated to them they choose other methods.
He went on to say the Constitution does not allow the accountability of the concerned senior officials but this can be done only through interpellation of the concerned minister.
He added that the sector is still moving in the wrong direction and those who are competent are still fighting to get their rights and this means the suspicions hover on the subject of the use of consultancy offices and signing with them contracts to develop the structures of the sector.
“In the interest of those consultants,” he asked, “why are they not hiring consultants from the Kuwait University?”
He pointed to a recent parliamentary question to the Minister of Oil about appointing expatriates during the past three years so we know the number of expatriates who have been appointed instead of the Kuwaitis. What kind of certificates and qualifications do those appointed hold to receive all these benefits? They are appointed without even making sure their certificates are genuine or not,” he added.