KUWAIT: Lawmakers stepped up their opposition to proposed government plans to cut subsidies on fuel and electricity in the second day of a debate, and the Assembly ended the discussion without voting on any recommendation. The Assembly action is likely to delay government plans to enforce the cuts unless the Assembly bureau resorts to measures that could accelerate the process.

At the end of the debate, a group of MPs presented a recommendation calling on the Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee to meet with the government until they agree on a comprehensive plan of economic reforms including subsidy cuts. The Assembly however could not vote on the recommendation due to a lack of quorum and then moved to other issues. When quorum was restored later, the speaker did not ask MPs to vote on the recommendation.

During the first day of the debate on Tuesday, speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem proposed that the financial panel should be consulted in an open meeting until they arrive at a comprehensive program for reforms and subsidy cuts. On the first day, several MPs opposed the cuts, saying it will lead to price hikes and eventually hurt low-income people, and demanded compensation for Kuwaiti citizens before the cuts are enforced.

But the lawmakers stepped up their opposition yesterday, echoing public resentment, as Islamist MP Hamdan Al-Azemi warned that if the subsidies were lifted or cut, he will grill the prime minister. He said the country's economic situation has deteriorated not as a result of the fall in oil prices, but because of the failure of the policies of the previous and current governments. "If the decision to raise petrol prices and cut subsidies for electricity and water is taken by the government unilaterally, the prime minister must be grilled," Azemi said.

Islamist MP Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran said the rationalization the government is talking about is negative because if oil prices rebound, the government will abandon all these proposals. He also criticized the government for listening to the advice of the International Monetary Fund and accused the ministers of failing to collect state dues from private sector companies.

MP Faisal Al-Kandari warned that all the good achievements of the Assembly will evaporate if subsidies were lifted, and warned the minister of commerce if he fails to prevent merchants from raising prices if subsidies are cut. If this is allowed to happen, the people will be hurt twice, exactly as it happened when diesel and kerosene prices were raised. MP Ahmad Al-Azemi lashed out at the government, claiming it has failed. He said the lifting of subsidies is totally rejected and urged all lawmakers to oppose the government's plans.

Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh reiterated that there is an urgent need to rationalize public spending in the face of the sharp fall in oil prices. He said that during the past decade, public expenditures increased from around KD 6 billion to over KD 21 billion, and the wage bill also increased manifold. He said that it is not acceptable to withdraw from the state reserves to finance the budget deficit and "we need to introduce a comprehensive program of economic reforms", calling for referring the issue to the financial affairs committee. The Assembly was then adjourned until March 1.

Separately, well-informed ministerial sources revealed that the government will start discussing the privatization of some official bodies in a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. The sources added that the government is seeking to privatize the ministry of communications now that the telecom authority has been established. The sources added that the same would be done with the ministry of electricity and water, and that a special authority would be established to be responsible for building power plants. "A major part of the information ministry will also be privatized," added the sources, pointing out that several health ministry sectors would be included in the plan.

By B Izzak and A Saleh