KUWAIT: Minister of Commerce and Industry Youssef Al-Ali yesterday issued a total freeze on consumer prices to prevent any "artificial" hikes as the Assembly prepares to approve raising power charges and the government plans to raise petrol prices. The preemptive ministry move seeks to ensure that prices of consumer goods remain unchanged after the increase in power and petrol prices, which is expected to take place this year.

To ensure prices are not hiked, the ministry plans to activate price control centers and increase the number of staff and working hours, the minister said. Ali however said that merchants can raise the prices of their goods only after presenting their cases to the ministry and getting approval.

The National Assembly is scheduled to debate a draft law tomorrow to raise electricity charges but the plan is facing stiff opposition from lawmakers, mostly to prevent any raises for citizens. An ever-increasing number of MPs are seeking to prevent any tariff increases for Kuwaiti citizens but allowing the hike for foreigners and commercial activities.

Although the Assembly's financial affairs committee rejected the government bill which stipulated high increases and set the first 6,000 kilowatts without any rate increase for private houses, or Kuwaiti citizens, MPs are preparing to reject any increase for citizens but allow the hikes for apartments, or foreigners, and commercial activities.

The committee accepted the government's plan for hiking tariffs for apartments to be 5 fils per kilowatt for the first 1,000 kW, 10 fils per kilowatt for between 1,000 and 2,000 kW and 15 fils per kilowatt for consumption above 2,000 kW. MP Saleh Ashour however said he will propose to delay power tariff increases for all categories since the government is not planning to impose the hikes before two years on private houses.

Ashour said that both the government and finance committee bills stipulate at least a 100 percent increase in charges and therefore should be rejected. He said that the law should be delayed until after the electricity ministry installs the so-called smart meters and is ready for the hike. MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji said that private houses represent a red line for him and that no increase will be accepted on them, adding that people will not pay for the failure of the current and previous governments.

In another development, the Assembly's legal and legislative affairs committee yesterday agreed to lift the parliamentary immunity of MP Abdulhameed Dashti to face interrogation by the public prosecution on a new case. Dashti is facing several cases in court for insulting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and others. The Assembly has already agreed to lift his immunity several times and the public prosecution has issued a number of warrants to arrest him. Dashti left the country over a month ago and has not returned.

Head of the committee MP Mubarak Al-Harees said the lawmaker has failed to attend three Assembly sessions and his membership will be revoked if he fails to come for two more sessions. Two weeks ago, the Assembly rejected Dashti's reasons to stay away from Assembly sessions.

The Assembly's interior and defense committee meanwhile approved a draft law allowing the government to naturalize a maximum of 4,000 people a year, a majority of whom are stateless people or bedoons. Similar laws were passed in previous years to naturalize some of the 110,000 bedoons, but the government did not implement them.

By B Izzak