KUWAIT: A number of MPs yesterday warned the government against what they called "rushed" appointments in the oil sector after the government reshuffled leading posts in the vital sector amid a bitter controversy over a $2.2 billion payment to US' Dow Chemical. The Cabinet at the weekend suspended leading officials at state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Co, which signed the multibillion-dollar deal with Dow, and referred the whole issue to the public prosecution.
In another major step, the Supreme Petroleum Council and the Cabinet removed the chief executive officer of national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) Farouq Al-Zanki and appointed Nezar Al-Adasani in his place. A long-serving oil executive, Adasani was a member of KPC's board of directors and the chairman of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co, a subsidiary of KPC, before he was surprisingly appointed in the post. The Cabinet also reduced the membership of KPC board of directors and appointed a number of new faces.
The appointments however were not to the liking of a number of MPs. MP Youssef Al-Zalzalah called on the prime minister to suspend the appointments and threatened that if he does not respond, "we will exceed the agreement you have reached with the Assembly speaker". Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and speaker Ali Al-Rashed agreed to work to resolve a political crisis that was triggered when MPs filed to grill the interior and oil ministers and the government then boycotted Assembly sessions. Details of the agreement between the two officials were not published but it was agreed that the government will attend the Assembly session on May 28.
Member of the Public Funds Protection Committee MP Saadoun Hammad said the committee will speed up its investigation in the Dow issue and intends to recommend to refer Oil Minister Hani Hussein to the public prosecution over losses to public funds and payment of the penalty. He said the committee will summon members of the team that negotiated the payment with Dow to hear their testimony on the payment of the penalty and who had asked them to pay it.
MP Safa Al-Hashem described the quick move to make the appointments as "suspicious" and charged that some of the names have close relations to the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Constitutional Movement, which she has been targeting for a long time. She said the investigation committees have condemned the oil minister and he should face next week's grilling, adding that the appointments indicate that the prime minister has been sidelined by the oil minister and two other ministers. MP Faisal Al-Kandari called on the oil minister to stay away from personal matters with regards to appointments and dismissals in the oil sector.
The statements come amid a bitter controversy whether the two grillings should be debated next week or postponed until after a constitutional court ruling on June 16. MP Abdullah Mayouf believed that the oil minister's grilling will be postponed amid reports that the Cabinet was working on garnering enough support among MPs to vote to delay the grillings for one month.
In another development, the opposition Popular Action Movement yesterday opened registration for members, which marks the body becoming an official popular political movement after it remained for several years as a parliamentary bloc. Registration at several diwaniyas across the country will continue for one month. The movement has already elected some of its office bearers and committees.
© Kuwait Times 2013
