Manama: A Kuwaiti lawmaker has warned that he would legal action against anyone who linked him with an alleged bribery case that has rocked the country.
MP Saadoun Hamad issued the warning after signing a pledge to declare his own assets as well as those of his wife and children.
"Such a move is necessary for Kuwaitis to know the truth," he said, quoted by Kuwaiti media.
Kuwait was last month rocked by a media report claiming that two lawmakers had received huge amounts of money in their bank accounts. The report sparked furore amid allegations that it was political and bribery money and the newspaper that published it as well as the government came under intense pressure to divulge the names and explain what was happening.
'Political' funds
Several MPs saw their names mentioned in online reports as having benefited from the "political" funds, prompting some of them to leap into action to clear their reputation.
According to Kuwaiti daily Arab Times, the veteran lawmaker said that he had instructed his lawyer to sue anyone who implicates his name in the bribery case after he noticed that people have branded him in a defamatory campaign on Twitter and Facebook.
"I challenge any person with proof against me to report it to the Public Prosecution," he said.
Al Watan Arabic daily reported that three political blocs, the Democratic Podium, National Coalition and the Progressive Movement have called for the identities of MPs involved in the bribery scandal to be revealed.
With no solution in sight for the political impasse, opposition groups have pushed for a rally on Wednesday evening to press for the resignation of the government over the alleged bribery scandal.
