MPs consult on detention of poet
‘Okay vaccines’
KUWAIT CITY, July 8: Twenty-eight MPs recently met at the office of MP Muhannad Al-Sayer in the National Assembly to deliberate on the Public Prosecution’s decision to detain poet Jamal Al-Sayer for 21 days for offending the Amiri entity.
These MPs issued a statement, citing Article 31 of the Constitution: “No person may be arrested, imprisoned, searched, have his residence restricted or be restrained in liberty of residence or of movement save in conformity with the provisions of the Law. No person shall be subjected to torture or to ignominious treatment.”
The MPs expressed objection to the arrest of Jamal on the street in full view of passersby despite the fact that his address is known and he is a famous personality. They claimed this attitude is a reflection of the path adopted by the government in order to settle political disputes through security authorities — a dangerous indication as it entails restriction of freedom and violation of the law.
Opinion
They said the prosecution has disregarded the amendment of Article 69 of Penal Code No. 17/1960 issued in January 2021, prohibiting the detention of individuals involved in opinion cases.
They called for holding an extraordinary parliamentary round and a special session to discuss the prosecution’s non-enforcement of Law No. 1/2021 amending Penal Code No. 17/1960, the law on filing complaints against judicial verdicts, and the proposal to specify the term of those occupying senior judicial positions.
MP Ahmed Al-Hamad praised the decision of the Health Ministry to ban the entry of expatriates who have not been vaccinated against covid-19 as this will help prevent the spread of the virus, especially the new variants.
However, he criticized the ministry’s decision to use only four brands of vaccine – AstraZeneca-Oxford, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. He then urged the ministry to use all the vaccines approved by World Health Organization (WHO) like the Chinese and Russian vaccines.
He asked the ministry to allow the entry of expatriates who got vaccinated with any of the vaccines approved by WHO; considering the four brands mentioned above are not available in all countries because they are expensive. He warned that limiting the allowed vaccine to these four brands will negatively affect the return of expatriate workers, especially the domestic workers; indicating this will result in various problems for citizens.
Action
Meanwhile, MP Ahmed Mutei Al-Azmi has submitted a proposal on banning the recruitment of expatriates in real estate broker offices. He called on the concerned authorities to take the necessary legal action against the expatriates working in this field who were proven to have committed violations, to be followed by deportation.
On the other hand, Chairman of parliamentary Human Resources Committee MP Muhammad Al-Hewaila disclosed that the committee will discuss on Sunday the recruitment of diploma holders in the oil sector.
He said this is part of the committee’s discussions with Minister of Oil and Higher Education Dr Muhammad Al-Fares and Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC) Hashem Hashem on such recruitment.
In its last meeting, the committee called for the recruitment of 575 applicants who passed the interviews and exams. It intends to coordinate with KNPC to publish a new job advertisement for the recruitment of graduates from the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). The required exam scores, especially that of the English test, will be reduced to match the level of PAAET graduates. Training courses will be organized for these graduates to perform better in the exams.