KUWAIT: MPs
yesterday urged the government to swiftly find a solution to the decades-old
problem of bedoons or stateless people and warned against the demographic
imbalance that has made the Indian and Egyptian communities as large as that of
Kuwaitis. Debating HH the Amir's speech that he delivered at the start of the
current term, lawmakers also continued to threaten to grill ministers, mainly
the new Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel if he fails to take measures to rectify
violations committed by the former administration.

MP Hamdan
Al-Azemi blamed lawmakers and the Assembly speaker for making the Assembly
weaker, "because 30 out of 50 MPs want to become ministers and try to
appease the speaker, because he has reserved seats in the Cabinet". MP
Mohammad Hayef threatened to use constitutional tools because of the bedoon
issue, which has remained unresolved for a very long time. He said that Kuwait
must retain its Islamic identity, adding this issue must remain Kuwait's top
priority.

Hayef complained
that his colleagues in the opposition have been sentenced to 42 months in jail
for entering the National Assembly building, in reference to MPs Jamaan
Al-Harbash and Waleed Al-Tabtabaei. The lawmaker also warned that the
government will be held to account for rampant corruption and criticized the
government for not returning the citizenship revoked from several opposition
figures.

MP Saleh Ashour
criticized the government's foreign aid policy, saying that it has donated $1.2
billion to Jordan and $2 billion to Bahrain and several millions to many
countries, while Kuwaiti citizens are suffering from huge loans and a bad
standard of living, claiming that the government has not submitted any law that
serves citizens. He criticized the demographic policy, saying that the size of
the Indian and Egyptian communities has become equal to that of Kuwaitis.

MP Khalil Abul
claimed Kuwait has become a country of eight merchant families and charged that
sectarianism is being practiced in some agencies. He threatened to grill the
new oil minister after two months if he does not take the necessary measures to
end violations and squandering of public funds.

MP Omar
Al-Tabtabaei criticized the repeated use of grillings, saying it has lost its
value and charged that some MPs give priority in grillings to their tribes,
families or sects ahead of national interests. He also blasted those who want
the Assembly dissolved because the prime minister is not good with them. He
also criticized what he called infighting within the ruling family.

MP Osama
Al-Shaheen said there is a need to review the constitutional court law in order
to re-establish the political equilibrium introduced by the constitution,
adding that grillings and parliamentary immunity have been weakened by recent
rulings by the constitutional court. As a result, the legislature has become
the weakest authority, he said. MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said it is the right
of lawmakers to debate the constitutional court's rulings after the
constitutional vacuum created by the latest verdict, adding that a new draft
charter for the Assembly will be submitted soon.

By B Izzak