The National Assembly

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Leading opposition lawmaker Shuaib Al-Muwaizri yesterday sent a series of questions to Interior Minister Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah about a number of unidentified Twitter accounts that have been publishing material about a perceived conspiracy in the country. In his questions, Muwaizri sent the names of 10 Twitter accounts that carried mysterious titles and that have been allegedly posting videos and texts, alleging the presence of a conspiracy targeting the stability of the country and its leadership.

The lawmaker asked the minister if the ministry agencies have been following these and similar accounts and if the accounts were being run from inside or outside of the country. He also asked if the ministry has identified those behind the accounts and if it has taken any legal action against them.

Muwaizri also asked the minister if the ministry has asked the Twitter regional management based in Dubai about the people running those accounts especially that they have been spreading material targeting the stability of Kuwait. The lawmaker asked the minister if those accounts had any relation with members of parliament or any economic, political or security personalities in Kuwait.

He asked if the ministry, through its security cooperation with regional or international powers, came to know about any internal or external plots targeting the security of Kuwait and its stability, and what measures it had taken to counter such plots if any.

MP Hisham Al-Saleh, meanwhile, asked Minister of State for Municipality Affairs Shaye Al-Shaye for a list of MPs and ministers who had been granted state agricultural land since 2010 and another list for their close relatives who received the same grants. The lawmaker asked if the state Audit Bureau has recorded any violations in this regard and demanded to know the measures taken against such violations.

The Assembly interior and defense committee failed to meet yesterday due to a lack of quorum as only two of its five members attended. Committee member MP Marzouk Al-Khalifa said that the meeting was supposed to discuss crucial amendments to a law which bans people convicted of religious insults or insulting HH the Amir from contesting parliamentary elections for life.

The law was used to nullify the membership of former opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum and the opposition pressed to amend the legislation which they said is not in line with the constitution. Khalifa charged that the absence of the three committee members is deliberate to prevent the amendments.