Kuwait faces crisis as ministers silent

Political crunch looms in the country as minister for youth affairs refuses to answer MP’s question

Apolitical crisis is looming in Kuwait as lawmakers have threatened to turn their questions to ministers into grilling sessions.

MP Saleh Ashoor criticised Khalid Al Rawdhan, acting state minister for youth affairs, for not replying to his question. Ashoor said he will repeat the question in the next session of the parliament.

Al Rawdhan reportedly dismissed the question as “unconstitutional”.

“If I receive the same reaction from Al Rawdhan, I will grill him,” the lawmaker said. “The minister should implement the pledge of the government to amend the sports laws, and if he fails to do it, he should hand in his resignation,” the lawmaker said, quoted by the Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda on Thursday.

However, Al Rawdhan said that he could not make empty promises and that he was ready for any questioning by the lawmaker.

MPs Jamaan Al Harbesh said that cooperation between the parliament and the government should start with ministers’ replies to all the questions asked by the members of the parliament.

“Otherwise, we will get the answers using other means,” he said, hinting at the possibility of grilling ministers.

MP Ali Al Daqbasi said that by not responding to questions asked by the lawmakers, the ministers were pushing them towards tense relations with the government.

Another lawmaker, Abdul Kareem Al Kindari, said that the MPs should turn their unanswered questions into motions to grill the ministers.

MP Nasser Al Dossari said that he expected the Minister of Housing to take action against people involved in substandard construction in the housing sector before April 10.

“Everybody is complaining about housing issues and it seems there are more than 100,000 requests for housing units. However, only a few units have been given to citizens in Western Sulaibkhat and Sabah Al Ahmad City, but deplorably, their construction is faulty,” Al Dossari said.

“We asked questions about the contract signed by the government with the construction company for building the houses, but we received no answers. If the construction issues are not resolved and people involved in it are not taken to the task, we will go for the grilling of the minister. This is the last chance,” he said.

However, Housing Minister, Yasser Hassan Abul, insisted that the names of the contractors and the details about the contract were provided to the lawmakers.

“We have replied to the questions asked by the lawmakers about the faulty construction, and the remedial measures being taken by the government in this regard,” he said.