Assembly panel approves KD 25bn debt law

MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei

KUWAIT: MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and a dozen other opposition activists, all jailed for storming the National Assembly, said yesterday they have begun an indefinite hunger strike to draw attention to their plight. The activists said in a statement that the purpose of the strike is to tell the world about the contradictions between what the government says at global forums and what it practices at home. They were referring to calls by the Kuwait UN representative on Iran to respect demands by Iranian protesters.

The activists said they were handed harsh jail terms without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves in court after they had already been acquitted by the lower court. Sixty-seven men were given jail terms of up to nine years for storming the Assembly during a protest in November 2011. One of the activists has already been on hunger strike for several days. Those sentenced to jail include three MPs, a number of former lawmakers and opposition activists, mostly youth.

In another case, well-known writer-journalist Fuad Al-Hashem was sentenced yesterday to seven years in jail for publicly accusing the former Qatari prime minister of stirring the Arab Spring revolutions. Qatar has already taken Hashem to court on several similar cases, and this was the first time he was sentenced to jail. Hashem is currently living in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee yesterday approved a government-sponsored law calling to allow the government to borrow up to KD 25 billion from international and domestic markets over the next 10 years. Under Kuwaiti law, the government cannot borrow without a law, which must specify the maximum amount the government can borrow and the duration of the bill's validity.

Kuwait has started borrowing from the domestic and international market to finance the budget deficit resulting from low oil prices. After posting surpluses for 16 consecutive fiscal years, Kuwait posted a budget deficit in the past three fiscal years. The draft law must be debated and approved by the Assembly to become effective.

MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said he will demand a special debate on the country's financial status to prove that Kuwait does not need to borrow because it has abundant funds that can be utilized instead. He said that Kuwait has huge fiscal reserves and that KD 20 billion of public funds are being held by state departments and agencies, which they should have transferred to state coffers under the law. He said the government should utilize these funds rather than borrow.

By B Izzak