KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh (KUNA)

KUWAIT: Ten lawmakers yesterday filed a no-confidence motion against Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh following a marathon grilling in which MPs accused her of a raft of administrative and financial violations. The lawmakers who signed the motion are Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, Mohammad Hayef, Saleh Ashour, Adel Al-Damkhi, Abdulkarim Al-Kandari, Nayef Al-Merdas, Abdullah Fahhad and the three MPs who grilled the minister.

Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said voting on the motion will take place in a special session next Wednesday (Jan 31). The motion needs 25 votes to pass and if this happens, the minister will be automatically dismissed.

MPs Al-Humaidi Al-Subaei, Khaled Al-Otaibi and Mubarak Al-Hajraf charged that the minister has failed

to implement policies to reduce the numbers of expatriates and accused the minister of adopting wrong decisions that sharply increased the number of expatriates in the country, which resulted in a massive demographic imbalance.

Subaei charged that the cause of the demographic problem in Kuwait is because the minister has been granting permits to small and "paper" companies to recruit large numbers of expatriates, and cited several examples of small companies being granted hundreds of work permits and then selling them at a high price to expatriates, which resulted in boosting visa trading.

Other MPs accused the minister of plotting to privatize cooperative societies by deliberately dissolving the boards of directors of several societies. The lawmakers charged that the minister did not apply the law properly over people with special needs and narrowed the base of needy people who are provided social assistance. They also cited examples where the minister appointed expatriates at handsome salaries, while many Kuwaitis remain without jobs. The MPs alleged that the ministry issued 133,000 work permits in the first seven months of last year, while there are over 129,000 expatriates in violation of the residence law.

Sabeeh however categorically denied the allegations and claimed that she worked exactly the opposite, adding that she has been targeted by MPs because she applies the law. She said that 96 percent of employees at the ministry of social affairs and labor are Kuwaitis, denying that she favored appointing expats.

The minister also said that public assistance rose from KD 74 million a year to KD 265 million, and denied allegations that she planned to privatize cooperative societies, saying this is banned under the law. Sabeeh also insisted that she won many cases against visa traders and she will continue to fight them.

By B Izzak