KUWAIT: Education Minister Saud Al-Harbi and Finance Minister Barrak Al-Sheetan speak during their interpellations at the National Assembly on Tuesday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: In a marathon Assembly session that continued until midnight, grillings against the finance and education ministers ended without filing no-confidence motions, as the two ministers separately denied alleged violations and mismanagement charges.

Education Minister Saud Al-Harbi was grilled by MP Faisal Al-Kandari for not ending the current school year because of the coronavirus pandemic, while Finance Minister Barrak Al-Sheetan was grilled by MP Riyadh Al-Adasani over a series of allegations that included failure to perform his duties over a number of key issues. The two ministers categorically denied the allegations.

Ahead of the grilling debate, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah expressed concern over a steep rise in the number of coronavirus cases, specifically among Kuwaitis, saying the causes have been unnecessary gatherings and contacts. He attributed the rise in cases among citizens to failure to observe instructions for social distancing, as some of them acknowledged they were performing night prayers in the month of Ramadan in basements in groups.

“Now, we are into the third week (of the first phase of easing) and the highest number of cases is among citizens for failure to abide by instructions,” the premier said. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said Kuwait has not reached the “safe area” in the fight against the deadly virus despite decisions taken to ease restrictions and shutdowns.

He said the number of cases is close to 37,000 and the number of deaths is around 300, while around 44 percent of intensive care beds are occupied by coronavirus patients. He said he is focused now on the number of beds for general and Intensive care units.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled also called on the National Assembly to hold virtual sessions, but Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said laws do not allow such meetings and has asked a group of MPs who are lawyers to study the issue.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh told the session that the names of all those suspected of involvement in a visa trading scam are with the public prosecution, which is investigating the case. The ministry has referred several visa trading cases to the public prosecution in the past several weeks, the latest of which is the case of a Bangladeshi MP and a number of officials.

Minister of Social Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel said yesterday she has suspended a senior official at the manpower authority suspected of having links to  the Bangladeshi-led scam. The Assembly also raised a number of issues regarding expatriates and voted to refer all proposals and draft laws related to the population structure to the manpower resources panel to prepare a comprehensive proposal on the issue.

The Assembly also voted to ask the interior minister to prepare a report within one month about visa trading and “marginal” labor and measures taken by the ministry. Minister of Public Works and State Minister of Housing Rana Al-Fares said yesterday she has decided to lay off all 400 expat employees at the public housing authority within a year. The first phase will start next month.

                              Grilling Debate

 As MP Adasani began to question the finance minister, he showed a document saying that the minister has submitted proposals to the Cabinet suggesting a series of drastic measures to boost public revenues that include lifting subsidies, imposing taxes and raising public service charges. Based on the document, the proposals forecast boosting revenues by some KD 2.5 billion annually if implemented and saving over KD 500 million in spending.

Although the minister acknowledged that he authored the document, he stressed that these are mere draft proposals for discussions at the Council of Ministers before coming up with concrete proposals for debate with the National Assembly. But Sheetan insisted that the welfare of Kuwaiti citizens will not be undermined. He also wondered how such a highly confidential document reached the lawmaker.

Adasani accused the minister of failing to supply all the necessary documents to the public prosecution in the case of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and suspected Kuwaiti figures and companies involved. He said that a small company was established specifically to carry out suspected money laundering operations and offer bribes, adding that the company transferred sums amounting to KD 340 million and was involved in other illicit businesses.

He charged that although the finance ministry has sent the file to the public prosecution, the complaint is incomplete and does not include key documents. But the minister insisted that all available documents have been referred to the public prosecution and asked Adasani to provide any document he has.

Adasani also criticized the minister’s policies of trying to make cash available for the state, saying that the Kuwait sovereign fund has plenty of cash and there is lots of cash available in various ministries and these must be used instead of raising debt. The minister admitted that state coffers are facing some cash shortages and said he has been taking measures to provide the needed funds.

Sheetan said the grilling includes constitutional flaws as it holds him accountable for major allegations, although he has been in office for just 50 days, adding that he has been fighting all forms of corruption and has taken several decisions in this regard. The minister said that the grilling consists of 100 pages and many accusations but he could not find anything that concerns him.

MP Safa Al-Hashem spoke in support of the grilling and accused the minister of being incompetent and inconsistent. MP Ali Al-Deqbasi defended the minister, saying that he should be given sufficient time to perform. After the grilling ended, MP Adasani said that he plans to file another grilling against Sheetan focusing on his proposals to tax people and raise charges.

In the education minister’s grilling, MP Kandari accused the minister of putting the lives of 700,000 students at risk for not cancelling the school year. The minister however said a decision like this is not easy because it has to consider the interests of all the students, adding that he has been evaluating the situation and will take the appropriate decision.