Kuwait opposition grills PM in secret session

Sheikh Nasser al-Sabah, nephew of Kuwait ruler, faces grilling in parliament for second time.

Middle East Online

Allegations of breaching the constitution and suppressing freedoms KUWAIT CITY - Kuwaiti opposition lawmakers on Tuesday began quizzing the oil-rich emirate's prime minister behind closed doors over allegations of breaching the constitution and suppressing freedoms. "I am ready to be questioned and I want the debate now," Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, told parliament speaker Jassem al-Khorafi as the session opened. But the government promptly demanded the questioning be held in a secret session, a request parliament approved. The request to quiz the premier was filed by MPs Mussallam al-Barrak, Jamaan al-Harbash and Saleh al-Mulla, who represent the three main opposition liberal, Islamist and nationalist groups and are backed by at least 17 other MPs. The move was triggered after elite Kuwaiti forces used batons to beat up MPs and citizens at a public rally on December 8, injuring at least four lawmakers and a dozen citizens. The session was being held amid heightened security measures as hundreds of police and special forces controlled all roads leading to the parliament building in Kuwait City. Opposition MPs strongly protested, saying such measures violated the constitution which forbids any forces from coming close to parliament without the speaker's permission. About 200 Kuwaitis gathered outside parliament in support of the opposition, and were joined by around 500 others who had been allowed inside the building until the session turned secret. Opposition MPs plan to file a motion of non-cooperation with the prime minister which if passed could unseat him. It requires the support of 25 MPs in the 50-seat house. This is the second time that Sheikh Nasser, a nephew of the Gulf state ruler, has faced a grilling in parliament. In December last year, he was questioned over corruption charges and survived a non-cooperation vote. OPEC member Kuwait was the first Arab state in the Gulf to embrace parliamentary democracy, doing so in 1962, but the system has encountered major difficulties in the past five years. During this period, the emirate which sits on 10 percent of world oil reserves has been rocked by a series of political crises that led the ruler to dissolve parliament three times, while the cabinet has resigned five times.