ShareKUWAIT: National Assembly legal and legislative committee yesterday discussed a number of draft laws for fighting corruption in light of the dispute within the Anti-Corruption Authority, head of the panel said.
MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said the discussion also comes after Kuwait's position in the international Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has dropped and following a challenge to the constitutional court calling that judges should not be subjected to the Anti-Corruption Authority.
The lawmaker said the committee discussed draft laws on conflict of interests to deal with the illegal bank deposits and draft laws related to transparency and disclosures. The committee must complete its discussion and present its report to the assembly by April 7, Dallal said.
The meeting was attended by head of the Anti-Corruption Authority and a board member who spoke about the previous experiment of the Authority which has been experiencing a bitter division between its top officials.
It was also attended by Justice Minister Faleh Al-Azab and representatives of civil societies dealing with corruption, said Dallal, adding that the committee is considering whether to have one or several laws on the issue and whether the conflict of interests law should be part of the anti-corruption law or the penal code.
In the meantime, MP Riyadh Al-Adasani criticized Dallal for refusing to discuss the conflict of interests draft law, which he submitted, as a standalone bill and not as part of other legislation. Adasani had submitted the draft law to close legal loopholes that prevented the prosecution of current and former MPs who were accused of receiving millions of dinars of bribes.
Also, Deputy Speaker Issa Al-Kundari called on the justice minister to stop interfering in the affairs of the anti-corruption authority, saying that the minister has repeatedly pressured officials at the authority to step down. Kundari said the minister's actions represent a flagrant interference in the affairs of the Authority and urged the prime minister to intervene.
In the meantime, the financial and economic affairs committee yesterday approved a draft law to lower the retirement age for both male and female government employees.
The draft law stipulates that female employees can have retirement after serving for 20 years provided their age is above 45 and that male employees can go on retirement after a 25-year service provided they have reached 50 years of age.
The government had rejected such laws in the past because of their heavy financial cost on the country's social security institution.
MP Safa Al-Hashem yesterday submitted a proposal calling to advance the clock in Kuwait by two hours starting from April 1 and until end of September every year. She said the proposal will help the population in the summer months when temperature hits above 50 Degrees Celsius.
By B Izzak
