Manama: Kuwaiti lawmakers will debate next week a motion of no-confidence in commerce Minister Khalid Al Roudhan.
The motion, supported by ten lawmakers following a nine-hour grilling of the minister on Tuesday, claims the existence of financial and administrative irregularities in the ministry.
The call for a debate on the no-confidence in the minister needed 10 votes to be passed and Speaker Marzouq Al Ghanem confirmed that the debate would be held on March 27.
If the motion is approved by the parliament, then the minister is dismissed.
However, Al Roudhan said he was confident the lawmakers would vote in his favour when the motion is debated.
“I had two choices. I could either buy my way to the office or tread the reform path. I chose the more difficult path, making reforms. If the lawmakers maintain their confidence in me, I will continue with the reform process,” he said.
Lawmakers supporting the no-confidence motion said the alleged financial and administrative violations included the ministry’s inaction about a KD500 million cheating scandal in which around 11,000 people fell victim to a massive real estate fraud.
According to the MPs, real estate companies operating in Kuwait sold thousands of real estate property in foreign countries through fraudulent transactions.
The lawmakers claimed there was corruption in the public industrial authority and the small-and medium-sized enterprises fund.
Al Roudhan rejected the charges, saying they were founded and refusing to have his reputation tainted.
“I walked into the ministry with my hands clean and I will exit it with my hands clean. I challenge anyone to prove that I am implicated in irregularities,” he said.
“I had two choices. I could either buy my way to the office or tread on the reform path. I chose the more difficult path, making reforms. I will not accept blackmails in order to keep my position. If the lawmakers maintain their confidence in me, I will keep moving ahead with the reform process.”
