Kuwait Times, Monday, Mar 29, 2021 | Shaaban 15, 1442
Opposition short of one vote to prevent govt from taking oath
Kuwait:
Thirty-two lawmakers yesterday said they will boycott the National
Assembly session tomorrow to prevent the new Cabinet from taking the oath of
office, just one vote short of preventing the Assembly from meeting. For the
session to be legal, an absolute majority of members – 33 – must attend the
session, and so far opposition MPs said they have guaranteed that 32 lawmakers
will not attend the session. If one more member joins the opposition boycott,
the Assembly will not be able to meet.
Not holding the session will prevent the 16-member Cabinet, including HH the
Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, from taking the oath to become
members of the Assembly. If ministers do not become members of the Assembly,
they will not be able to attend sessions, which is a prerequisite for Assembly
sessions to be legal. A similar incident happened in 1964, when a majority of
MPs refused to attend the Assembly session and prevented Cabinet members from
taking the oath. That forced the Cabinet to resign.
Opposition MPs met again yesterday and issued a brief statement in which they
assured they will boycott the session because Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem had
insisted that the membership of leading opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum is “null
and void”. Following the meeting, Dahoum said 32 MPs have pledged they will
boycott the session tomorrow in a bid to prevent the government from taking the
oath. He called on people to press other MPs to join the boycott.
Dahoum warned that lawmakers who will attend the session will allow the Cabinet
to take the oath and will give confidence to the prime minister and speaker,
adding that people are demanding the departure of both of them.
Pressure is mounting on social media on five tribal MPs – four of them from the
Awazem tribe, of which Dahoum is a member. One of them, MP Ahmad Al-Shuhoumi,
the deputy speaker, said he will attend the session even if he is the only
member present. Other lawmakers have made no comment so far. MP Saifi Al-Saifi
said the government is illegitimate from constitutional, popular and legal
viewpoints and the premier must go.
Meanwhile, Ghanem yesterday sent out invitations to lawmakers to attend the
session tomorrow, the first since June 5. The session, if it convenes, is
scheduled to discuss a number of important laws, including the general amnesty
law, mainly for opposition activists and former MPs. The Assembly is also due to
discuss two grillings against the prime minister.