By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Two main groups of MPs announced on Tuesday the formation of a parliamentary bloc consisting of five lawmakers with the aim to boost the standard of living and strengthen the principle of equality. The new bloc consists of MPs Ahmad Lari, Khalil Abul and Hani Shams from the Islamic National Coalition and MPs Khalil Al-Saleh and Saleh Ashour from the Peace and Justice Alliance.

The lawmakers said in a statement they formed the coordination bloc for the sake of working to achieve the aspirations of the Kuwaiti people and boosting the standard of living of citizens. They also said the bloc will work toward strengthening the principle of equality and equal opportunities for the Kuwaiti people. They added they will continue to fight corruption.

Meanwhile, MPs Jenan Bushehri, Shams and Obaid Al-Wasmi raised some objections to a decision to appoint a large number of senior officials at several government departments. Bushehri said such decisions must be subjected in the future to the supervision of the National Assembly and should be in line with rules and conditions set by the government.

Bushehri said she has sent a series of questions to Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Barrak Al-Sheetan about the appointments. She said government rules stipulate that committees should be established to select nominees for appointments to senior positions in the government. Based on that, she asked the minister to provide her with the decisions of forming such committees.

She also demanded to get copies of tests conducted on the appointed officials in accordance with the rules. The lawmaker said the rules require ministers to nominate three candidates for each top job, from whom the Cabinet will choose one. The lawmaker demanded detailed procedures for the appointments.

MP Shams meanwhile called on the government to explain the basis of selecting the senior officials and whether the principle of equality and equal opportunities had been applied to all candidates. He said the people had anticipated reform measures by the Cabinet to ensure that the appointment of senior officials is based on transparency and qualification. MP Wasmi called on the prime minister to reconsider the appointments of the senior officials if the government did not apply the rules and conditions before issuing the decisions.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen called on the government to speed up plans to increase the appointment of more Kuwaiti judges in the judiciary to Kuwaitize the entire system. In other news, the ministers' tribunal, a court that tries ministers and former Cabinet members set Dec 20 to issue its verdict regarding accusations of corruption in the Eurofighter warplanes deal worth over $8 billion.