?KUWAIT: MPs yesterday launched a furious attack against Finance Minister Mustafa Al- Shamali after he informed a crucial meeting that discussed a debt relief scheme that the government will not accept any of the proposed schemes and will stick to the debt relief fund it established several years ago.
Shamali made the statements after he met with members of the financial and economic affairs committee with high hopes the government will accept a compromise on the highly controversial issue. Rapporteur of the committee MP Safa Al- Hashem said after the meeting that the government explained the financial cost of the proposals which call for the government to purchase all bank loans owned by Kuwaiti citizens, drop all interest and then reschedule their repayment over several years.
In a previous meeting, the Central Bank informed the committee that the value of interest on the loans is around KD 1.7 billion. Hashem said that the government did not even come with a compromise on the issue despite the fact that the problem of debt was essentially caused by the government for failing to observe strict supervision over local banks. She said that the committee will next week vote on a comprehensive draft law and submit it to the National Assembly for voting despite the government?s rejection. MP Khaled Al-Shulaimi said that the issue has the support of 42 MPs who will vote to support the proposed solution and enforce the law on the government, which has the right to reject any law even after it is passed by the Assembly.
MP Askar Al-Enezi said he and a number of MPs will submit a request calling to hold a special Assembly session to debate the issue and pass the debt relief law. Shiite MP Hussein Al-Qallaf warned that Shamali?s stubbornness will cause the present government to collapse and ?this will be followed by more dangerous events?. He explained that Shamali?s action will force the people to go to the opposition in order to obtain their rights, adding that if the government does not understand this, ?then it deserves what it will get?. Qallaf said that the opposition is trying to ?fish in troubled waters? and is waiting for an opportunity to exploit and the issue of debt relief is the best opportunity for them.
Five MPs meanwhile submitted a draft law calling to amend the electoral law and stipulating that ?original Kuwaitis whose forefathers lived in Kuwait before 1920 are allowed to contest the parliamentary election?. The unprecedented draft law was signed by MPs Abdulhameed Dashti, Nabeel Al-Fadhl, Hashem, Qallaf and Nasser Al-Shimmari, who later withdrew, describing the bill as ?racist?. The draft law clearly targets bedouin tribesmen, a majority of whom came to Kuwait in the past 40 years and very few of them had their forefathers in the country before 1920.
The opposition meanwhile announced on its Twitter account yesterday that the next demonstration will be held today in Sabahiya to demand the dissolution of the Assembly and the scrapping the controversial amendment to the electoral constituency law. Organizers did not provide the time or location of the demonstration, the seventh in the series of the so-called Karamat Watan (Dignity of a Nation) rallies.
The opposition also appears headed to take their grievances to the outside world after it was reported that it has formed a four-member team to explore the possibility and initiate contacts with international human rights organization in addition to a number of official bodies. MP Fadhl meanwhile submitted a proposal to amend the trials law to stiffen penalties against illegal protests and to treat such crimes like murder and that the public prosecution must complete the investigation on them within two months.
The Assembly?s human rights panel yesterday said the government will soon submit a study on the issue of sponsorship for expatriates in the country, which has been repeatedly criticized by many quarters in the world.
By B Izzak, Kuwait Times Staff
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