By B Izzak

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun on Monday sent questions to all Cabinet ministers asking for details about the total number of expats employed by their respective ministries and departments, including those hired through recruitment contracts. Saadoun said the questions aim to end the long periods Kuwaitis wait for to get government jobs, while large numbers of expats are still employed in government jobs.

He demanded from each minister a detailed list of the number of expat employees in their ministries, their nationalities and their specializations. He also demanded similar lists of expat employees provided through recruitment contracts, although they are not considered fulltime employees.

Saadoun added some ministries still put obstacles before the employment of Kuwaitis and some intentionally do not employ citizens despite the fact that some of them are qualified to take the jobs. The speaker recalled that several articles in the constitution oblige ministries to provide jobs for citizens and also oblige them to train them for the available jobs.

According to official statistics, the strength of the government workforce is around 400,000 employees, around 80 percent of them Kuwaitis. Lawmakers have been pressing the government to accelerate the replacement of expat employees with Kuwaitis to employ a growing number of Kuwaiti graduates.

Meanwhile, MP Jenan Bushehri submitted a petition to the constitutional court challenging the constitutionality of an article in the internal charter of the National Assembly. Bushehri said the article stipulates penalties for lawmakers who abstain from attending Assembly sessions, but the article spares ministers from such penalties. Under the constitution, unelected ministers are considered members of the National Assembly and enjoy similar powers like elected MPs.

Bushehri wants to rectify the fault in the article to penalize ministers who do not attend sessions deliberately. The move came after the government has stopped attending Assembly sessions since Jan 10. The government resigned a month ago, but no prime minister has been named to form a new Cabinet. Bushehri said the deliberate absence of the government from sessions has prevented holding Assembly sessions and taking key decisions.

Under Kuwaiti law, the presence of at least one minister is essential to hold sessions. MPs have said they plan to file an amendment to the law to allow holding sessions without the need of ministers' presence.