KUWAIT: The Acting Speaker Mubarak Al-Khrainej said yesterday that Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah has categorically denied the report about the presence of 37,000 stateless people (Bedoons) living in Kuwait who are suspected to be members of Iraqi Shiite militia Al-Mahdi Army of Muqtada Al-Sadr.
The claims were made last week by MP Mishari Al-Hussaini - and several MPs have raised the issue and demanded the government to investigate the report. Also, head of the Bedoons Committee, MP Khaled Al-Adwah said yesterday the government Central Committee for Bedoons has assured them that the reports about the militia were totally baseless.
In another development, the debate between various opposition components about alleged differences within its ranks took a new turn yesterday after a leading opposition activist publicly said the so-called parliamentary bloc has diminished, the protest movement has been fragmented and there is an urgent need to reorganize the opposition.
The announcement was made by leading writer and journalist Mohammad Abdulqader Al-Jassem on his Twitter Account but was immediately, though indirectly, denied by leading opposition figure and Islamist former MP Khaled Al-Sultan, who said differences within the opposition groups are "normal". Former liberal MP Saleh Al-Mulla meanwhile made a passionate call for national dialogue, this time between all sides and groups to overcome "an unprecedented state of division within the Kuwaiti society".
Mulla called for a broad national dialogue between the opposition and the pro-government groups to reach an amicable solution to the ongoing political crisis. Speaking at a gathering, former member of the 2012 Assembly and opposition figure Obaid Al-Wasmi, who two days ago called for national dialogue, called for a code of ethics called Kuwait National Charter as the basis for the proposed dialogue.
Jassem however sent a piece of advice to Wasmi on his Twitter Account telling him to "avoid seeking to surpass the status achieved by opposition figure Mussallam Al-Barrak". Jassem also said that when the opposition fails to reach a consensus, there must be a process of "filtration" since "the parliamentary bloc is finished and the protest movement has been fragmented by some people deliberately".
"Now, we must seriously reorganize the movement without any concessions or deals. No election with one or two votes, we need a national project" said Jassem, who added that "I believe that restoring solidarity (within the opposition) is almost impossible but the arena is wide open for all groups and factions to operate".
Former MP Sultan insisted that the opposition is cohesive and united and the differences are normal. After failing to form a united opposition, at present three blocs operate with some coordination: the Opposition Coalition, the Movement Coordination and a third group for Wasmi and former MP Mohammad hayef.
Meanwhile, the Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee did not hold a scheduled meeting yesterday to discuss the law for waiving interest on bank loans which was approved in the first reading last week. The government has said it will not accept the law in the second reading without fundamental changes which the committee was expected to discuss yesterday, today and tomorrow. The committee did not meet yesterday because of the absence of the Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali.
© Kuwait Times 2013
