KUWAIT CITY, May 11: Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim thanked the MPs who presented interpellation motions against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al- Sabah and State Minister for Housing Affairs and Services Yasser Abul, following deliberations on the three grilling requests from 9:00 am Wednesday until 4:00 am Thursday.

He affirmed the Parliament agreed to discuss the two interpellation requests against the prime minister behind closed doors in response to the request of the government, indicating the discussion ended without any vote of no-confidence due to failure to meet the required number of signatures.

In a related development, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Thursday sent a cable to the premier, congratulating him on successfully completing the interpellation motion. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah also congratulated the prime minister on the MPs’ renewal of confidence in him in line with the Constitution.

In a cable to the prime minister, Sheikh Nawaf said, “I am pleased to address to Your Highness the warmest felicitation for the precious confidence affirmed by the respectable National Assembly as stipulated in the Constitution.” He expressed well-wishes to the premier in the process of reforms and full-scale development. He hopes the premier will succeed in attaining prosperity for the country and its people as desired by HH the Amir — the leader of humanitarian activities.

Meanwhile, MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, one of the proponents of a grilling motion against the premier, claimed there was a conspiracy to discuss the interpellation secretly; thereby, preventing the people from following up what he considers the strongest grilling in the history of the country. He said this happened to avoid putting pressure on the MPs to sign a non-cooperation motion.

After discussing the grilling motions against the premier, the Parliament tackled the interpellation against State Minister for Housing Affairs and Services Yaser Abul with the following points:

• Failure to hold accountable the companies which committed grave errors in constructing government houses in the northwestern part of Sulaibikhat, Jaber Al-Ahmad and Sabah Al-Ahmad, violation of laws on the housing projects in Metlaa and Khairan, and making citizens bear the cost of repairing damages caused by the mistakes of these companies.
• Violation of law numbers 47/1993 and 50/2010 amending some provisions of law number 44/1993 on housing care and the establishment of stock companies to implement Metlaa and Khairan residential city projects.
• The Public Authority for Housing Welfare’s decision to make changes in the contract — from North Metlaa to South Metlaa — without taking into consideration the technical and geographical differences.
• Misleading information presented to lawmakers during the discussion of the housing issue on April 26, 2017, as the minister’s responses contradicted contents of the questions forwarded to him. MPs Ali Al-Daqbasi and Abdullah Al-Fahad spoke in support of the grilling motion while MPs Rakan Al-Nisf and Auda Al-Ruwaiei spoke against. The discussion ended without a no-confidence motion against the minister and the speaker adjourned the session until May 23, 2017.

HH the Amir also sent a cable to Abul on Thursday, congratulating him for responding to the grilling points. He extolled the minister and MPs for their participation in the session which he described as a procedure that exemplified real democracy. He then wished the entire nation continuous development and prosperity.

News Source: By Abubakar A. Ibrahim, Arab Times Staff