Kuwait MPs file motion to grill information minister

Three Kuwaiti lawmakers have filed a motion to grill Shaikh Salman Al Humood Al Sabah, the Minister of Information and Youth, over an alleged failure to lift an international ban on Kuwaiti sports.

Waleed Al Tabtabai, Abdul Wahab Al Batain and Al Humaidi Al Subai said they would also quiz the minister over alleged financial and administrative irregularities in the two ministries he is heading.

Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al Ganem on Sunday said that he had received the motion and that the session would be held on January 31.

However, the grilling could be postponed if Shaikh Salman called for a delay and the parliament approved it, he added.

The lawmakers said the grilling would focus on four issues related to the suspension by international bodies of the Kuwaiti sports federations, the squandering of public funds in the youth ministry, financial and administrative irregularities in the information ministry, and attempts to restrict the freedom of the media.

According to the lawmakers, the minister failed to deal with the ban imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and other federations on Kuwait, which deprived the country of participating in international competitions.

The minister has failed to learn from the experiences of other countries in dealing with international suspensions, the MPs said.

They charged that Shaikh Salman compounded the crisis for Kuwaiti sports by dissolving local associations and not heeding advice from experts in such instances, “which greatly damaged Kuwait’s relations with the international federations.”

They claimed the minister was not forthcoming in explaining the situation to the parliament and by providing misleading information about the ban and the suspension.

Al Tabtabai, a veteran lawmaker who was not member of the outgoing parliament but was re-elected on November 26, said that the minister had “ample time to fix the situation, especially with regard to the sports situation.”

“He now has to answer all our questions in a public session, and the parliament will decide the fate of the grilling,” he said.

“There has been a serious sports issue in the country for ten years, and we are not taking sides. I am not favouring anyone, and I am simply doing my job. Those who have criticised the motion to grill should wait and decide, and not take sides from now. Every lawmaker is free to make up his opinion after they listen to the questions and answers,” he said, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Monday.

MP Al Batain said that he was determined to go ahead with the grilling and that he did not want anyone to contact him over the issue.

“We will have the grilling in a public session and there is no way we bow to possible pressure,” he said.

source: GULF NEWS