Kuwait Times, Wednesday, Dec 23, 2020 | Jamadi Al Awwal 8, 1442
Opposition MPs take control of most committees
Kuwait:
Lawmakers who are members of an alliance of opposition MPs yesterday took
control of most of National Assembly panels, including the key committees of
legal and legislative and the interior and defense. But pro-government MPs
wrested control of the important financial and economic affairs committee and
health and labor panel.
Most of the committees were however elected unanimously, as the government
appears to have decided not to intervene in the election of the panels, which
study and approve bills and discuss key issues. The alliance of opposition MPs
last week lost the speaker’s election battle after Marzouq Al-Ghanem was elected
for a third term with strong backing from the government and after a dozen
members of the alliance changed their minds and voted for Ghanem.
Alliance members were in a majority in the permanent committees for legal and
legislative, interior and defense, housing, public funds defense, foreign
affairs, budgets and public utilities. They also took control of temporary
panels for human rights, stateless people (bedoons), women and family,
agriculture and food security and environment affairs. The Assembly however
refused to form a temporary committee for oil affairs, after some MPs said the
financial affairs committee is already entrusted with the issue.
At the start of the session, Ghanem and the government paid tributes to late
Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the former defense minister and eldest
son of former Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who died on Monday,
and late Abdulaziz Al-Shaye, a senior Kuwaiti businessman who was also a former
electricity and water minister.
Ghanem rejected requests by opposition MPs to debate issues related to last
week’s session and their motions to launch an investigation into allowing crowds
loyal to the speaker to attend the inaugural session in violation of rules. The
speaker insisted that the internal charter and the constitution do not allow
debating any issue outside the agenda, because it was a special session.
Opposition MP Mohammad Al-Mutair said the internal charter does not distinguish
between special and ordinary sessions and what the speaker did is wrong. MP
Thamer Al-Suwait charged that Assembly officials replaced the cameras and
destroyed evidence about violations committed last week during the opening
session. MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari said in case of a dispute over interpreting
legal issues, the Assembly should be allowed to vote on such issues.
Meanwhile, MP Mohammad Al-Huwailah yesterday submitted an amendment to the
nationality law stipulating that Kuwaiti citizenship cannot be revoked by
authorities without a court ruling.