Meeting to discuss possibility to merge Premier’s grilling motions

KUWAIT: There are attempts to gather MPs who filed two separate grilling motions against His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah for a meeting to discuss the possibility of merging both motions in a bid to ‘unify efforts’ in that regard. The meeting would bring together 26 lawmakers who comprise the opposition in the National Assembly, according to parliamentary sources.

The lawmakers believe the merging process will be easy because the grilling motion filed by MPs Mohammad AlMutair, Waleed Al-Tabtabaie and Marzouq Al-Khalifa includes five key factors, while the second one filed by MPs Riyadh Al-Adasani and Shuaib Al-Mowaizri includes only one factor concerning the government’s performance, which is similar to the fourth factor in the first motion. “Therefore, the second motion can be included as part of the first,” the sources stressed.

The meeting would also discuss determining which three of the five MPs will discuss those factors during the debate, the sources said, pointing out that those who called for the meeting believe that Mutair and Mowaizri will likely withdraw while Marzouq Al-Khalifa insists on filing the grilling motion. The reason for that is because Khalifa feels he needs to make a ‘strong showing’ that helps him in upcoming elections in anticipation of a Constitutional Court ruling on May 3 that could result in a parliament dissolution, the sources speculated. MPs who filed the interpellations reportedly seek to file a no-cooperation motion against the premier, and there is growing doubts within the 26 opposition lawmakers regarding whether they could secure ten signatures necessary to file said motion after the grilling’s debate. “They believe therefore that merging the two motions will ensure having at least ten MPs sign the no-cooperation motion, thus achieving more political success for those who filed the grilling,” the sources added.

Off course

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) believes that a parliamentary committee investigating citizenship forgeries would not come up with any results because previous experiences proved that most committees had usually ‘deviated off course.’

In a statement released to the press yesterday, NDA also urged anybody had solid documented proof and evidence of any forgery cases to report to the public prosecution so that those involved could be held legally accountable by court, be them senior officials or beneficiaries themselves.

Road projects

The Ministry of Public Works’ (MPW) planning committee discussed the methodology to be used in qualifying companies for new tenders yet to be offered for bidding, said informed sources.

The sources also expected MPW to withdraw two road projects from a company because it failed to execute according to schedule. “The company is trying hard to avoid the withdrawal by accelerating its work pace,” stressed the sources, noting that a special committee will be formed, in case of withdrawal, to run an inventory of the completed work so far and offer new tenders through the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) to complete the remaining works.