MPs sign petition to debate employment of citizens

KUWAIT: The National Assembly is expected to debate today a grilling for Commerce and Industry Minister Khaled Al-Roudhan over alleged financial and administrative violations. The grilling was filed by MPs Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie and Mubarak Al-Hajraf who accused the minister of failing to stop wide-ranging financial and administrative violations at the ministry and a number of agencies overseen by the minister.

Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem has said that the grilling is on the agenda of the assembly session today but its debate depends on the minister and the assembly decision. The minister can request a postponement for two weeks but it has to be accepted by the national assembly.

Roudhan had asked the two grillers for explanation on some points in the grilling and the two lawmakers had responded paving the way for the debate to take place today. The grilling may end in 10 MPs filing a motion for a no-confidence vote and may just finish with recommendations.

In the meantime, 18 MPs signed a request calling on the assembly to hold a special debate on employment for citizens amid rising numbers of Kuwaitis entering the job market. MP Osama Al-Shaheen, who prepared the request, said that the government and the assembly must have a fruitful and comprehensive discussion on ways to create jobs for Kuwaitis. He said that in some cases, Kuwaiti graduates spend years waiting for government jobs while in some other cases, Kuwaiti graduates are offered jobs not suitable to their specialization.

Shaheen said the debate is not expected to take place today but the assembly will set a date for the special session to allow the government to provide updated date and information on this important issue. The lawmaker said that there are thousands of jobs in both the public and private sector occupied by expatriates and can be replaced by Kuwaitis which will greatly reduce unemployment.

MP Majed Al-Mutairi in the meantime said that the government's draft law for the Silk City and Northern Economic City paves the way for creating 'a state within the state' because the proposed authority for the mega projects will take over specializations of ministries and government departments. He said the assembly encourages development projects but will not accept suspicious projects that involve violating the constitution and the country's laws.

By B Izzak