Manama: Although it was elected on November 26, Kuwait’s parliament has not enacted any law and is sliding into a tense situation in the wake of standoffs between lawmakers over issues that include the revocation of the Kuwaiti citizenship and the call to “Islamise” all legal texts.
During some of the sessions, MPs traded insults following the revival of accusations of receiving “political money.”
The coming days could be ominously tenser for the 50-member parliament.
Lawmaker Yousuf Al Fadhala has threatened to grill Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Mubarak next week while others said they would push at the March 7 session for making changes to the report of the interior and defence committee on the amendment of the Citizenship Law.
Lawmakers have also been piling up pressure on the government to scrap the decisions to hike the prices of oil, electricity and water, a major promise they made when they campaigned to get elected.
The government said that it would not yield to pressure and that it would not accept moves to cancel the increase the increases deemed as an economic necessity.
According to Kuwaiti daily Al Anba, eight lawmakers will be meeting the prime minister to discuss several political issues, including the government’s cooperation with the parliament on the issue of reinstating revoked citizenships.
Kuwait’s Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al Ghanim has downplayed pessimism about the legislative body promising political stability will “soon” be achieved.
“Several lawmakers are coordinating with the Speaker and their colleagues in order to help secure the higher interest of the nation and the citizens and to achieve the minimum level of stability so that the parliament devotes its time and energy to addressing national priorities,” he said.
