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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Kuwaiti MPs set to remove prime minister

Kuwaiti opposition lawmakers file two motions to remove Prime Minister Sheikh Nasir al-Muhammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and his interior minister over corruption charges.

The premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah are both senior members of the al-Sabah family that has been ruling the Persian Gulf state for 250 years.

Ten opposition lawmakers filed on Tuesday a "motion for non-cooperation" against the prime minister following a protracted six-hour session held behind closed doors.

"A motion has been officially submitted, and voting will take place on December 16," AFP quoted Parliament Speaker Jassem al-Khorafi as saying.

If passed, the motion would still need to be sent to the emir to decide either to sack the premier, or dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

Sheikh Nasir, the first prime minister to be questioned by Kuwait's parliament since the legislature was set up in the Arab emirate in 1962, is facing allegations that his office embezzled 23 million dinars ($86 million) in the run-up to the 2008 elections.

He is also charged with issuing a $700,000 check to a former MP last year.

Early on Wednesday, 10 other opposition MPs filed a no-confidence motion against the interior minister for providing the parliament with false information during a June 23 questioning.

Kuwaiti lawmakers also grilled Minister of Public Works and Municipalities Fadhel Safar over allegations of financial and administrative corruption, and then defense minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah for alleged misappropriation of public funds and wrongdoings in arms deals.

The appointment of Sheikh Nasir's, a nephew of the ruler, as premier in 2006 sparked bitter disputes between Kuwait's executive and legislative bodies which have seen parliament dissolve three times and forced Sheikh Nasir to resign five times ever since.

Late on Tuesday, 30 MPs out of parliament's 50 members issued a statement expressing confidence in the prime minister, who denies the corruption charges along with his ministers.

For the opposition motion to be passed, it requires at least 25 votes from elected MPs who are not cabinet ministers. All ministers, whether elected MPs or not, hold ex-officio seats in Kuwait's parliament.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113258§ionid=351020205.

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