KUWAIT: MPs insisted yesterday that the bank deposits scandal must be exposed during a special debate in the national assembly and warned the government against attempting to prevent the debate tomorrow.

MP Riyadh Al-Adasani has submitted a motion to allocate at least one hour during Tuesday's session to expose the scandal in which current and former lawmakers are accused of receiving cash bribes from the government in 2011.

At least 13 lawmakers from the 2009 national assembly were interrogated by the public prosecution over the allegations but no charges were pressed against them because there were no sufficient laws to send them to court. A number of the 13 politicians are still members in the current assembly.

Adasani, who was a member of a probe committee formed by the opposition-dominated assembly elected in 2012, wants to announce the results of the investigation which have so far been kept confidential.

Unacceptable

Holding documents related to the issue, Adasani said facts about the issue must be revealed to the Kuwaiti people and it is unacceptable to keep the file shelved. Adasani said that the 13 MPs have acknowledged receiving money from members of the cabinet and it is illogical for lawmakers to receive benefits or cash from the government, adding that he is not objecting to the public prosecution decision to shelve the case.

The lawmaker said the investigation committee formed to complete the investigation in the 2013 assembly was a bogus panel, adding that most of the events now is the result of what happened in the 2011 bribery case. Adasani called on lawmakers to support holding the debate and urged the Kuwaiti people to hold to account those MPs who vote against the debate.

Liberal MP Rakan Al-Nasef stressed on the importance of the debate on the bank deposits scandal, saying that although the issue has been closed with regard to the criminal offense because of a legal loophole, it cannot be closed politically.

Nasef said that period represents a dark era for the Kuwaiti democracy, adding that he and other MPs will not accept the session to be held behind closed doors or any attempt by the government to foil it. The lawmaker called on the assembly legal committee to introduce the necessary laws to close the loophole that prevented the trial of those lawmakers. He charged that "legislative corruption" is no longer limited to cash payments and now it also includes the distribution of farms, contracts, accepting illegal transactions and others.

Millions of dollars

Meanwhile, MP Ahmad Al-Fadhl said that there have been reports that members of the national assemblies in 2009, February 2012, December 2012 and 2013 hold properties worth millions of dollars in Turkey and Bosnia.

In a question to the foreign minister, the lawmaker demanded a detailed report of real estates and companies owned by members of those national assemblies. He also asked if those MPs or close relatives own commercial or investment activities in the two countries.

By B Izzak