Second Legislative Term Of The National Assembly Will Open Today

24 October 2017 Kuwait

The second legislative term of the National Assembly will open tomorrow, with draft laws on pensions, petrol prices and nationality being on top of the agenda. Other draft legislations, suggested by lawmakers, deal with good governance, revision of the penal code, the family court, and the government-run universities as well as the file of unaccredited university degrees, scholarships and nominations.

The draft amendments to the social security act envisage bringing down the retirement age 45 for females and 50 for males and reducing the minimum period of actual service to 20 years for females and 25 for males. Regarding the nationality act, lawmakers press for controls on the numbers of people eligible for obtaining the Kuwaiti nationality in 2017 and launching a circuit court to rule on related administrative causes.

As for petrol issues, some lawmakers suggest revoking the price hikes that came into force in early September 2016.

Other draft laws deal with issues of genetic fingerprint and social aid. In its first legislative term, the 15th National Assembly passed 89 legislations, including seven laws, 12 agreements, 38 budgets and 32 final accounts. Some of these legislations regulate the affairs of juvenile affairs, set up a portfolio at the Industrial Bank of Kuwait to support the small enterprises, amend the Corporate Act I for 2016, and amend the proceedings of objection at the Court of Cassation.

The MPs passed an act on exceptional pensions and benefits for military retirees, national teaching staff and staffers of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. The military retirees who completed 20 years in service were entitled to get exceptional pensions ranging between KD 250 and KD 400 according to their respective ranks. A KD 0.302 equals $1. Kuwaiti members of the teaching staff, belonging to the Ministry of Education, and staffers of Al-Awqaf Ministry who serviced for 30 years for males and 25 years for females were entitled to get end-service benefit equivalent their salaries in one and a half years in addition to other financial awards. The lawmakers also approved amendments to the civil service act that entitled employees at the private sector to end-service benefits.

The amendments of the juvenile affairs act set controls on penalties for juvenile delinquencies that prevented issuance of capital punishment and life sentences for a person below the age 18 whatever the crime might be. The MPs will also discuss a grilling motion presented against State Minister for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdallah Al-Sabah as well as other items on the agenda. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will open the legislative term with a speech, and Speaker of National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghnaim and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah will deliver their speeches later.

The Parliament is set to discuss the grilling move submitted by MPs Riyadh Al-Adsani and Abdulkarim Al- Kanderi against Sheikh Mohammad per se. Article 135 of the Parliament’s bylaws stipulates that the speaker must notify the prime minister or the concerned minister instantly upon submission of the interpellation motion. It also stipulates that the deliberations must be held eight days after submitting the motion, and that is in nonurgent cases, and with consent of the premier or the concerned executive. On Oct 8, the two lawmakers submitted a five-point grilling move against Sheikh Mohammad to the Speaker.

The first point covers Cabinet “irregularities in executing the state budget and non-commitment to enacting decisions. The second is related to “government failure” in tackling the issue of unemployment and state projects. The third outlines the inactivation of establishing an internal auditing body at the Information Ministry, and imbalances in the ministry’s expenditure and revenues. The grilling also accuses the Cabinet, in its fourth component, of “concealing information and delaying responses to parliamentary inquiries,” which was regarded a breach of the constitution.

 

SOURCE : ARABTIMES

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