KUWAIT: Candidate Sami Al-Dabbous called on the government to stop providing healthcare for expatriates at public hospitals and replace it with a health insurance scheme. The candidate said that every expatriate in Kuwait costs the health system KD 562 per year and they pay only KD 52 to the government.

Dabbous did not say how he reached these calculations because they appear to be highly exaggerated. Based on his calculations, the cost of the healthcare for expats will be close to KD 1.8 billion per year which is far above the health ministry budget even without including the expenses of Kuwaiti citizens.

A number of candidates have called for depriving expatriates of several services and stop giving them government jobs or reduce their numbers in the country as a means of winning more votes in the election.

By B Izzak