Manama: A Kuwaiti lawmaker has urged her peers to overcome their divergences and work together for the interests of the nation.

"We must not forget that we, as Kuwaitis, have been brought up on the values of high moral and religious principles and on compassion and tolerance," Rola Al Dashti said. "What is happening these days is totally and utterly rejected. This new line in our political stances will result only in acrimony and divisions," she said.

Kuwait has recently a wave of political altercations between lawmakers belonging to different blocs and a bitter standoff between MPs and the government that marred relations between them.

The tension culminated last week when people attending a forum clashed with anti-riots police over meeting outside the diwaniya, a private meeting hall attached to the house of a lawmaker.

Both the police and the participants gave their versions of what happened, each blaming the other, and the situation was compounded when a parliament session degenerated into an acrimonious exchange of insults between MPs.

"We understand there can be differences and we accept criticism. We get excited at times. However, none of this gives us the right to use words and sentences that do not honour us as Kuwaitis and cannot be uttered by politicians, intellectuals or media people," Rola, one of Kuwait's four women lawmakers, said.

All lawmakers should regain their sense and behave in a manner that is compatible with genuine Kuwaiti values and with the text and spirit of the constitution, she said.
Another woman MP, Aseela Al Awadhi, blasted the government, saying that it was refusing to cooperate with the parliament.

"I challenge the government to mention one example of non-cooperation from the parliament side," she said, addressing her speech to the Emir. "We are invariably ready to implement whatever you want us to do, but the government moves only when one of its ministers is likely to be quizzed," she said.