Kuwait Parliament gears up for busy October 31 session

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National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun has invited the MPs and the government to the inaugural ceremony and session for the second year of the 17th parliamentary term on Oct 31, 2023.
The agenda of the session includes the following:
■ Oath-taking of MPs and ministers who have not done so in accordance with Article 91 of the Constitution,
■ Electing the Assembly Secretary,
■ Electing the Assembly Observer,
■ Grilling motion of MP Mubarak Al- Tasha against Minister of Public Works Amani Bugamaz on four issues as follows:
● failure to carry out road maintenance works and delayed completion of projects;
● corruption suspicions, conflict of interests and squandering of public fund funds;
● failure to collect fines imposed on contractors who violated the provisions of their contracts;
● violation of the Constitution and failure to respond to parliamentary queries.

■ Grilling motion of MP Dawood Marafi against Bugamaz on the following:
● Public Authority for Roads and Transportation (PART),
● Ministry of Public Works,
● Kuwait International Airport and manipulation of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

■ Electing members of parliamentary committees. Al-Saadoun also invited the MPs and the government to the special session scheduled for Nov 1, 2023 to discuss the Zionist attacks of Gaza; according to the proposal signed by 48 MPs.

In another development, Chairman of the parliamentary Financial and Economic Affairs Committee MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri disclosed that the committee has approved and completed reports on various bills; most of which aim to improve the citizens’ standard of living.

He said the completed reports are on the following:
■ Cancellation of the requirement for international companies to have a local agent if they wish to participate in public tenders,
■ Increase the minimum pension amount,
■ Increase the amount of loans for retirees from seven times of their pension to 21 times and reduce the installment amount to range from five to 15 percent of the pension,
■ Increase the children allowance to KD100 per month,
■ Increase the social allowance for married citizens to KD100 per month,
■ Increase the cost of living allowance to KD250 per month for all citizens working in the public and private sectors, as well as the disabled. He added the committee also finalized its report on controlling prices.

He revealed the committee met with the concerned institutions, during which they agreed that the procedures to monitor markets in order control prices are not enough. He affirmed that the committee reached an agreement with the concerned public institution to conduct an integrated study on the issue, including the reasons behind the price hikes and recommend measures to enhance the monitoring of markets.

He went on to say that the committee approved the bill to exempt the heirs of those who obtained loans from Kuwait Credit Bank from paying the rest of the loan in case the borrower dies. He added the bank will lay down the procedures and regulations for obtaining insurance to cover the remaining installments upon the death of the borrower.

He also stated that the committee approved the report on cancelling the privatization of Kuwait Airways Corporation and the bill on amending the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Law for the chambers to be subject to State laws, to be under the monitoring of the Commerce and Industry Ministry, and to make the KCCI subscription optional. He affirmed the top priority bills are those on improving the citizens’ living conditions. He assured that these bills, once ratified, will not affect the public budget.