Kuwait Times

Published Date: November 20, 2009
By B Izaak, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Islamist MP Daifallah Buramiya carried out his threat yesterday, filing a request to grill Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, alleging that he has committed a number of financial and administrative violations.

In his 44-page grilling motion, Buramiya charged that the minister has committed violations in four main issues, including being responsible for the death of three Kuwaiti soldiers during war games about five years ago.

Buramiya's is the fourth grilling motion to be filed this week, following similar requests to grill the prime minister and the ministers of interior and public works.

After filing his request, Buramiya told reporters that he has repeatedly asked the minister to rectify the violations but all his attempts failed. "I have submitted this grilling out of my duty to safeguard public funds" the lawmaker said.

National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi told reporters that the debate over the grilling is listed on the agenda of the December 8 session, following discussion of the grillings of the prime minister and ministers of interior and public works.

He said that the solution to this issue is for the government to face the grillings in the national assembly. Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah told reporters that the government will deal with the grillings within the framework of the constitution.

A number of other MPs have made pessimistic statements, however, with independent MP Khalaf Dumaitheer saying that he expects the national assembly to be suspended for between two three years.

MP Hussein Mazyed, meanwhile, called on the government to either debate the grillings or resign, while MP Khaled Al-Tahous also urged the government to face the grillings, saying they do not constitute any political crisis.

In his grilling motion, Buramiya alleged that the minister committed serious violations in sending patients for treatment outside Kuwait. He said the minister has approved sending many patients abroad who did not deserve to go since they could be easily treated in Kuwait.

He also accused the minister of knowingly enabling influential figures and thieves of public funds to "illegally steal public funds through suspicious projects and contracts.

Buramiya cited the project to establish two ice factories, with the contract being awarded to a contractor at the cost of around $10 million in public funds; although three quarters of this money has already been paid, the factories have not yet been built.

The MP also stated that during war games at the Udaire range north of Kuwait, three Kuwaiti soldiers were killed and eight other wounded after a bomb exploded as they were about to use it.

The lawmaker claimed that the defense ministry failed to launch a prompt investigation into the incident, waiting for a very long time to form an investigation committee.

Furthermore, he said, the committee tried to cover up the blast by claiming that the weapon was being tested by qualified technician and the blast was merely an accident although subsequent investigations showed that the weapon had been faulty.

On another issue, Buramiya charged that defense ministry officials have failed to co-operate with the Audit Bureau team that monitors all types of contracts.
He said that this lack of cooperation forced the Audit Bureau to pull out its team from the ministry, adding that ministry officials have also provided false information on some occasions.

Buramiya further claimed that the minister of defense has refused to answer questions submitted by MPs about arms deals, invoking confidentiality, although details about such deals are available on the Internet.

Parliamentary observers believe that more grillings are in the pipeline, including a new grilling of the prime minister over the Umm Al-Hainan pollution crisis and a grilling against Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali.

MP Tahous yesterday denied that he has filed a grilling against the finance minister after rumors circulated claiming that he had done so. The last time that four grillings were filed at the same time was in June 1986. A few days later the national assembly was suspended for six years.