Kuwait Times

Published Date: February 11, 2009

KUWAIT: The Umma Party political bloc slammed upcoming Valentine's Day and warned residents of celebrating it in Kuwait. The bloc warned the media against portraying the day as a festive occasion which misleads many Muslims. Umma part representatives said that Valentine's Day celebrations can be considered backward practices since they date back to thousands of centuries. They questioned some people's inclination towards imitating the West and warned against blindly imitating western constructs. Celebratin
g Valentine's Day violates Islamic code of conduct even though some Christians trace the tradition back to the ancient Romans. Islam emphasizes that there is only one Almighty God that's Allah, therefore, the Party said that celebrating Valentine's Day violates Islamic way of life.

MPs slammed over grilling motions
KUWAIT: Mohammed Baqer Al-Mohri, the patron of a Shiite Husseiniya, has called for the National Assembly's dissolution, claiming that this is the only real solution to the current crisis in the nation. He claimed that the move was necessary due to the presence of many MPs in parliament who are concerned only with going after their or their political blocs' chosen targets. Al-Mohri said that most Kuwaiti people are frustrated by the continuous interpellation motions submitted by parliamentarians against th
e Prime Minister and other ministers, reported Al-Watan. He said that the government is unable to resolve the country's current problems because of the constant interference of MPs and their repeated grilling motions aimed at having certain ministers dismissed. Al-Mohri said that the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah exerts great efforts to introduce reform-oriented policies in Kuwait's interests and to strengthen its regional and international reputation. The foolish and time-wasting inte
rpellation motions submitted by some MPs against the premier are damaging to the country and its interests, he warned, as well as disruptive to the government's planned development projects.

New ministers appointment
KUWAIT: MP Saleh Al Mulla has called for the appointment of ministers from outside the ruling family to positions in the most sensitive ministries, calling the current situation where only ruling family members are appointed to these posts unfair. Al-Mulla asserted that the current system whereby leading members of the ruling family, most particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, are solely responsible for appointing and forming governments, is unjust and should be changed. The MP al
so insisted that the formation of political parties should be allowed. He also urged the questioning of the Central Bank of Kuwait's governors and the Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali over their failure to adopt strict procedures to penalize negligent officials. Al-Mulla urged cooperation between the government and National Assembly, warning against the loss of experienced and capable senior oil sector officials to other sectors and asserting that this has left many unqualified senior administrators
in charge of the oil sector.