Kuwait government, parliament clash over grilling approach

Manama: A political crisis is looming in Kuwait after the cabinet and the parliament clashed on Tuesday over the merit of two grilling motions filed by lawmakers against Mustafa Al Shamali, the finance minister for alleged financial irregularities.

The government said that its minister was ready to answer the lawmakers' questions only if the two quizzing motions were separated, in line with the parliament's bylaws which allow merging grilling quests only when they had similar themes.

However, the lawmakers who filed the motions and their supporters insisted on merging them.

Speaker Ahmad Al Saadoon suspended the session after the two sides adhered to their views and the government refused to bow to pressure by those supporting merging the two motions.

"We have opposed the merging of the two motions because we do not accept that matters are imposed on us. We are partners in this parliament," Shaikh Jaber Al Mubarak, the prime minister, said. "If there is any doubt about the bylaws, then we have to go back to the laws and constitution which we have sworn to uphold," he said as he left the parliament hall.

Shaikh Mohammad Al Abdullah Al Mubarak, the information minister, denied claims that the government was pondering a no-cooperation move.

"Our hope was that the parliament would move ahead with the two grilling motions and allow the minister to answer each of them separately," the minister said. "We have always been serious about quizzing motions and we do insist on compliance with the laws and by-laws," he said, quoted by Kuwaiti news site Sabr.

Several MPs from the minority approved the government's move to refuse the merging of the two motions, blaming the majority for trying to impose their views even if it meant flouting the bylaws.

A statement issued by the parliamentary majority after the ministers left said that the cabinet had the obligation to respect the constitution and comply with the will of the parliament.

"The parliament has the right to make the final decision and the government has to come to hear it on Wednesday," the statement said. "The government has faced several grilling motions in the last few months, but today it chose to use the parliament bylaws as an excuse. We will not back down and we will move ahead with our drive to confront abuses."

MP Waleed Al Tabtabai said that the government should be wise enough not to sacrifice its achievements and cause new elections for the sake of one minister.

"We are surprised by the government's attitude, especially that they faced earlier quizzing motions even though they said they unconstitutional," the lawmaker said. "It seems that the government wants to answer the first grilling and postpone the second," he said.

The current Kuwaiti parliament was voted in general elections held in February 2. The cabinet was formed two weeks later.