Opposition to coordinate for next step

KUWAIT: New MP Ahmed Nabil Al-Fadhl thanked third constituency voters and vowed to represent all Kuwaitis and cooperate with the new parliament. Speaking to reporters after winning the elections, Fadhl urged his fellow lawmakers to prioritize Kuwait's greater good, cooperate and forget all disagreements in order to do something for Kuwait. "I won the election and intend to put my vision into practice, including resolving housing, health and education problems," he said, noting that the new parliament should focus on tangible achievements in the coming two years. He also urged the government not to reappoint troublemaking and unproductive ministers, as he described them.

Meanwhile, MP Thamer Al-Dhafiri thanked the Kuwaiti people in general and his supporters in particular following the declaration of results. "A new phase of Kuwait's history has just started," he said, noting that he would be the first to extend a hand of cooperation to everybody with the aim of achieving the best for the entire Kuwaiti people. Dhafiri demanded a Cabinet that matches the parliament's current formation, works for greater good and refrains from overburdening citizens. "Cooperation with the coming Cabinet will depend on its reaction to public demands expressed by candidates including reconsidering the laws passed by the previous parliament, skyrocketing prices, bedoons and citizenship withdrawal issues," he explained.

In the meantime, MP Abdullah Fahhad Al-Enezi thanked the Kuwaiti people and his supporters in the fourth electoral constituency in a statement made to reporters, in which he hailed the vast participation in the election process. Enezi vowed to work on achieving the Kuwaiti people's aspirations, protect their gains and stop government attempts for economic reforms at their expense. He also called for a new Cabinet formation that would match these aspirations including having technocrat ministers.

Opposition meets

Opposition MPs plan to hold a meeting before the end of this week to discuss the outlines of their work and coordinate their approach prior to the speakership and other parliamentary committee elections, well-informed sources said. The lawmakers will also discuss establishing a new parliamentary bloc and discuss its priorities before the new parliament convenes within two weeks, the sources added. Moreover, the sources said the meeting MPs will also discuss supporting one of them, most probably Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, to run for the speakership, as opposed to others supported by other MPs from outside the bloc such as Abdullah Al-Roumi in particular, who is also said to have plans to run for the speaker's post.

Online payment

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is scheduled to launch its online payment service to collect company and commercial licenses fees and fines during the first quarter of 2017. The ministry explained that the new service would be part of those provided by the e-government project and that it would have a positive impact on facilitating transactions for both company owners and individuals.  Meanwhile, the ministry's one-window department received 41 applications to set up new companies last week, said informed sources, noting that 25 had been approved, 15 had been rejected and one was deferred for further checks. The sources added that the department received 124 applications from Oct 23 until the end of last week.

By A Saleh