Cabinet expresses relief over Crown Prince's medical test results

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (center) chairs the cabinet’s meeting yesterday. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Members of parliament have the constitutional right to table interpellation requests to cabinet ministers, but relevant regulations and conditions should be observed, the Kuwaiti cabinet said yesterday. The cabinet made this statement during its customary weekly meeting presided over by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, as the National Assembly is set to meet today to discuss three grilling motions against Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak and two cabinet ministers. The cabinet, however, reiterated willingness to work with the assembly to put control tools in effect with a view to ensuring the national interest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said in a statement following the meeting.

Also locally, the Cabinet expressed relief over the results of routine medical examinations His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah recently underwent in the United States, which showed that he is in good health. First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah briefed the executive body on Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative Yang Jiechi's visit to the country.

The talks the Chinese official had with Kuwaiti leaders focused on strategies to establish closer bilateral ties, in addition to political happenings around the world, the minister explained. The Kuwaiti foreign minister went on to address the ongoing diplomatic row with the Philippines, stressing that Kuwait fervently opposes any measures that undermine its sovereignty and that the foreign ministry will determine the proper course of action to take in the best interests of both nations.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh informed the Cabinet that British Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns's recent visit to Kuwait was productive, in which it focused on relations between both countries. The Kuwaiti executives also approved a pair of proposals dealing with forming a Gulf accreditation center in the country and an agreement between Kuwait and INTERPOL over the police body's travel document initiative.

The Cabinet also gave the thumbs up to an economic deal between Kuwait and Nicaragua, in addition to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for high-level talks involving Kuwaiti and Australian officials, as well as a MoU for direct investment between Kuwait and Turkey.

In addition to discussions over the agenda for the next session of parliament, the Cabinet also agreed to form a committee comprising representatives from across the government spectrum to examine the issue of domestic labor. On Arab and international affairs, the cabinet emphatically deplored missile-firing by Yemeni Houthi militias at populated areas in Saudi Arabia. It condemned such heinous attacks by Houthis as they target the kingdom's security and stability, in a clear-cut proof of this group's insistence on shrugging off international efforts to settle the conflict in Yemen.

It, further, reaffirmed that the State of Kuwait stands by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and backs its measures to maintain its security and stability. The Kuwaiti ministers then welcomed the recent historic Korean meeting, which culminated in a peace agreement between North Korea and South Korea, speaking highly of their leaders' effort to defuse tensions in the Korean Peninsula. The agreement is hoped to set an example for putting an end to world conflicts and tensions so that security and stability would prevail, the cabinet said. Furthermore, the cabinet deplored and condemned a recent shooting of worshippers in Quebec City in Canada, which left a number of people killed or injured. Finally, it openly denounced twin blasts targeting an intelligence facility in Kabul, together with an attack on foreign forces in Kandahar early yesterday, which claimed caused some casualties. The cabinet emphasized that the State of Kuwait has adopted an unshakable position that is primarily based on decrying all forms, manifestations and motives of terrorism. - KUNA