Kuwait Urges Boycott Of Palestine Workshop In Bahrain

The National Assembly has called on the government to boycott the ‘Peace and Prosperity’ workshop which is scheduled to be held in Manama, Bahrain on June 25 and reject any form of normalization of ties with the Zionist entity.

This came during Monday’s parliamentary session when Speaker of the Parliament Marzouq Al-Ghanim delivered an emergency National Assembly statement asserting that this workshop is aimed at strengthening the Zionist occupation of Palestine and legitimizing it.

The statement also highlighted that the Kuwaitis with all its unions, civil associations and political movements have asserted their objections to any form of normalization of ties with the Zionist entity on multiple occasions.

Since the Manama workshop goes against all Kuwaiti foreign policies, legislations and political stances, the Assembly stated its official position of boycotting this workshop and rejecting any decisions taken at this workshop that might lead to further loss of the Arabic, Islamic and historical rights and identity of occupied Palestine.

In response, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Sheikh Sabah Al- Khaled assured the Assembly that the state of Kuwait will maintain and preserve its foreign policies with regards to the Palestinian conflict, and stressed saying “We will not anything that is unacceptable to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and we shall accept all which they deem acceptable.”

The minister then voiced his hopes for finding a fair and all-inclusive solution to this issue, and for the US and those concerned to reach a path through which fundamental pillars of national legitimacy, the UN Security Council and the Arab peace plan are strongly taken into consideration.

On the sidelines of the session, MP Mohammed Hayef told the press that his decision to grill the minister of finance will be determined after the finance committee meeting Tuesday. He said his initiative to postpone the decision was aimed at eliminating assumptions that he had made haste in submitting the interpellation request, especially since the minister of finance was clear in his intentions to attend committee meeting.

Furthermore, the National Assembly approved the amendments to Law No. 49/2016 regarding the general state tenders during its second reading with 47 voting for and 2 against, and has been referred to the government for implementation. After the bill’s approval, head of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly MP Salah Khourshed asserted that this achievement will surely contribute to solving issues facing national produce, especially when it comes to market competition, which the MP believes to have always been unfair.

For his part, minister of commerce and industry Khaled Al-Roudhan stated that this will be the beginning of a new directive of government expenditure towards diversifying state income and allowing fair means for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete for state tenders and the development of national economy. In addition, the copyrights and associated matters the law was approved by National Assembly during both readings and has been referred to the government for implementation. The law now comprehensively unifies all existing laws regarding copyrights, author rights, publication rights and other associated matters under one legal umbrella, in addition to new articles that thoroughly addresses intellectual properties and pirating violations.

The National Assembly also approved the new auditors and financial supervisors’ law during its first reading with 52 voting for out of the total 54 MPs who attended the meeting. The bill was returned to the concerned committee to revise the proposed amendments, and is expected to be addressed for its second reading during a session scheduled this coming Thursday.

Head of the Finance Committee MP Salah Khourshed stated that this law aims at revitalizing the regulatory system of this field, considering the law was 37 years law. He noted that the law was a government initiative but the Parliament was able to insert at least 10 amendments to its articles including an anchored requirement of prior experience for those intending to work in this field, and an increase on the records and files reservation period from 5 years to 10. Moreover, forbidding and punishing the use of nonaccredited credentials and certificates law was approved in its first reading while the second reading is postponed until the next session Thursday, after the concerned committees review amendments proposed during the session.

During deliberations, MPs voiced the importance of carefully evaluating the proposed amendments in order to produce a comprehensive law and prevent legislative gaps, considering there are bodies that recruit individuals holding non-accredited certificates, which should be firmly addressed in the executive regulations of the law.

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