Kuwait Times

Published Date: June 05, 2009
By B Izzak, Staff writer

KUWAIT: National Assembly speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi said yesterday that MPs will hold an expanded meeting next Monday to study the top priorities to be debated during the current term. Al-Kharafi's statement came after the first meeting of the Assembly Bureau, which formed a six-MP committee that will determine the main issues to be reviewed by Monday's meeting. The priorities discussed will become official only if the National Assembly approves them in a meeting.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Reform and Development Bloc submitted a package of draft laws on various issues yesterday. In one bill, the bloc, formed of three Islamist lawmakers, calls for lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age and for allowing servicemen in the Ministries of Defense and Interior to vote.

In another draft law, they called for the cancellation of all public holidays in Kuwait except for Eid Al-Fitr (after Ramadan) and Eid Al-Adha, in addition to Liberation Day. The bill also calls for making the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan a public holiday. A third bill calls for barring banks from offering loans to those below 21 years of age, while a fourth calls for establishing special towns for expatriate laborers in the country.

Also, bloc member MP Jamaan Al-Harbash sent a question to Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah on the planned purchase of the French military aircraft, Rafael, asking for details about the deal.

Five MPs, including Ahmad Al-Saadoun, submitted a draft law calling for the establishment of appeals as constitutional. Currently, the Constitutional Court rulings are final and cannot be challenged because there is no appeals court in the system. The same MPs also called for establishing medical cities in Kuwait.