KUWAIT: The security situation in the country was under the microscope yesterday as the National Assembly held a special secret session to discuss "security chaos" in Kuwait and the opposition called for a new demonstration for next Sunday, warning that protesters may not remain peaceful if police continued to use excessive force. MPs voted 38, including cabinet ministers, against 24 to enforce the special session to be held behind closed doors, the first such session for the new assembly. But after Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah made his remarks about the ministry efforts in maintaining law and order, a number of MPs walked out of the session amid talk about a possible grilling. Shiite MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan said after he was the first to leave the chamber that he was upset because the minister did not bring any senior official and did not prepare a written statement on the issue.
The minister did not take this assembly seriously as he only respected the assembly of (former speaker) Ahmad Al- Saadoun and showed disrespect for this assembly. MP Ahmad Al-Mulaifi also walked out and called on the prime minister to sack him, saying that he came to the session without any data, information or senior officials and gave us only "stories". Mulaifi warned that if the prime minister does not sack him, he vowed to exercise his constitutional right of grilling the minister. Shiite MP Abdulhameed Dashti said the minister had nothing to say and we planned to walk out of the session but decided against it for the sake of the Kuwaiti people. MP Hammad Al-Dossari said there is an intention to grill the minister and many lawmakers were surprised that he did not bring his senior officials. But MPs Mishari Al-Hussaini and Faisal Al-Kundari defended the minister saying that the attacks on the minister were personal and that he was very convincing although he was not given full opportunity. Kundari criticized the talk about going straight to grilling the minister saying this will make constitutional tools meaningless and the assembly and the government must cooperate on this very important issue. MPs then passed a large number of non-binding recommendations calling to strengthen the police and security force by opening doors to employ children of Kuwaiti women.
The recommendations also called for seeking the assistance of security experts and for checking the influx of expatriates into Kuwait. The interior minister said after the session that he will take the recommendations into account. Shiite MP Hisham Al-Baghli told reporters after the session that the Prime Minister said during the session that there are Kuwaiti financiers for the alleged terror cell in UAE. MPs also said the next session on security will be held within three months. Sources said that some MPs urged the interior minister to deal harshly with opposition protests. In another development, the opposition yesterday called for a new demonstration "Karamat Watan 6 - A Dignity of A Nation 6" to be staged on Sunday in Sabah Al-Nasser, a predominantly tribal area.
The call came as the organizers of the demonstrations warned that riot police has used excessive force against protesters in last Sunday's rally, insisting the extent of police violence was not to apply the law but to "humiliate" the Kuwaiti people. The organizers warned that if the extent of police violence continued at such level, there is no guarantee protesters would remain peaceful endlessly, the first such warning since protests were launched around two years ago. Also, veteran opposition leader and former assembly speaker Ahmad Al- Saadoun denied yesterday that there were any contacts between the opposition and the government. He reiterated that contacts were being made with all political groups in the country to establish a broad-based front to confront attempts by the government to ratify the Gulf security pact and amend the constitution.
© Kuwait Times 2013
