Gulf security pact blasted
KUWAIT: The controversial Gulf security pact came under fire yesterday from lawmakers and politicians who insisted the pact breaches the Kuwaiti constitution and called on the National Assembly to reject. The pact was signed by the interior ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Saudi Arabia over a year ago but Kuwait’s parliament must ratify it to become effective. The Assembly’s foreign relations committee held a meeting last week with the foreign, interior and justice ministers to debate the pact which has so far remained confidential.
The charge against the agreement was led by opposition leader and former MP Musallam AlBarrak, who asserted that the pact violates the Kuwaiti constitution which guarantees freedoms. Barrak called on political movements in the country to unite in rejecting the pact and strongly blasted Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem for saying that the pact cannot violate the constitution. The former lawmaker said that the pact requires member states to extradite people, especially expatriates, after any member state accuses them of committing crimes even before the accusations are proven. Ghanem said after last week’s meeting that article
one of the security pact clearly states that its provisions cannot violate constitutions and laws of member states.
Almost all the seven Shiite MPs have already said they will strongly oppose the agreement because it contradicts the Kuwaiti constitution. MP Khalil Al-Saleh said the Gulf security pact is not in harmony with the vast freedoms in the country, adding the pact completely violates the Kuwaiti constitution. Saleh vowed to resist the ratification of the agreement by the Assembly, adding that he has already consulted constitutional experts, all of whom said the pact is in breach of the constitution.
Another Shiite MP, Abdullah Al-Tameemi, called on MPs not to ratify the Gulf pact before it is amended to be in line with Kuwait’s constitution and laws. “This pact is in contradiction with the principles and provisions of the Kuwaiti constitution which guarantees and safeguards freedoms. Ratifying the pact is considered a breach of Kuwait’s national sovereignty,” Tameemi said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah told MPs last week that the pact cannot be amended and it has to be accepted or rejected in full. Tameemi insisted that more than 10 provisions of the pact contradict with the principles of democracy and national interests. The lawmaker said that he does not believe that any of the seven Shiite MPs will vote in favour of the pact, adding that even if all the other 49 MPs approve it, “I will take the honour of rejecting it alone”. The pact must be first revised by the foreign relations panel of the Assembly, then debated by the parliament before voting on it. If the Assembly refuses to ratify the pact, Kuwait will have to pull out of it.
The Islamic Constitutional Movement also reiterated its rejection yesterday of the pact, saying it contradicts with the constitution and contains articles that effectively turns the country into a ‘police state’. “The agreement contains articles that contradict with the idea of the state’s sovereignty and others that are unclear and can be interpreted in different contexts,” read a statement released by the Sunni Islamist group. The ICM, which is considered the unannounced political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait, further accused the pact of being in violation of laws that guarantee freedoms. “We cannot accept agreements that contradict with freedoms that the constitution guarantees for all,” the group said, adding that approving the pact in the parliament “restricts freedoms and allows Kuwait to become a police state”.