Kuwaiti leadership 'has averted crisis'

Dubai: Sources in the Kuwaiti Parliament and close to the cabinet have said the state's leadership has averted a constitutional crisis in spite of the questioning submitted by three members of parliament against the Prime Minister, Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah.

Abdul Moneim Al Sisy, a Parliamentarian expert told Gulf News that a meeting of the leading members in the Ruling family was held late Saturday to decide the reaction regarding the inquiry against the performance of the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet.

"The decision of the ruling family seems to have ruled out the dissolving of parliament because the government can handle the current situation without resorting to such an extreme decision. The Prime Minister can ask to appear in parliament in two weeks' time while parliament can meet during this period to vote for postponement of the inquiry. The government needs 33 votes in favour of postponement including the 16 ministers, who are members in the Cabinet entitled to vote. This means that the government needs 17 MPs to agree on the postponement of six months or one year," he said.

Puppet

Al Sisy said the postponement of the inquiry would become a precedent in parliamentary life in Kuwait and demonstrate the Salafi bloc's incapability of achieving their goals in parliament.

Dr Walid Al Tabtabai, representative of the Sunni Salafi bloc in Parliament, and one of the three signatories on the inquiry told Gulf News yesterday, what is looming as a solution is even worse than dissolving parliament.

"People close to the government are talking about postponement of the questioning indefinitely because the government has been assured that it can win the voting of 33 members out of the 65 who are entitled to vote on the postponement. In my opinion, this means parliament has become a puppet in the hand of the government and no MP would dare to question the government in the future," Al Tabtabai said.

"If the government is sure about its popularity in parliament and that the questioning is not going to result in impeachment; why is the prime minister trying to avoid standing in front of the representative of people of Kuwait to explain the policies and the achievements of his government," he asked.

Nasir Al Sanie, Member of Parliament told Gulf News lawmakers have great confidence in the wisdom of the Emir and the majority of the MPs are willing to cooperate with the government and Prime Minister Shaikh Nasir Al Mohammad.

"I feel that the government has moved to defuse the crisis through deporting the Iranian cleric, Mohammad Al Fali. It will be wise for the parliamentarians to cooperate with the government during this critical time," he said.

Al Tabtabai said it was not the matter of deporting Al Fali.

"What matters to those who signed the inquiry is the way the government allowed Al Fali into Kuwait despite the official ban against him and the delays in taking the right action. I think the people of Kuwait have every right to know why this happened? And what are the measures to avoid it happening in the future?" he said.