Chairman of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee MP Shuaib Al- Muwaizri has clarified that efforts to push for the approval of the proposal to purchase the citizens’ loans and other bills in the interest of the public are not aimed at obtaining electoral gains, as the objectives include easing the suffering of citizens through constitutional channels, implementing political reform and protecting the wealth of the State.

He believes the session slated for Tuesday is extremely important as it has been allocated for the discussion of urgent bills like the proposed refunding of loan interests that some banks have been collecting illegally since 1992. He stressed the need for the special majority to vote on this bill, considering it will be implemented retroactively. He added the government neither submitted alternative bills to the proposal to purchase the citizens’ loans nor presented solutions to the loans issue.

He urged the government to fully cooperate with the legislature in the interest of citizens, indicating those who claim that the Loans Bill is part of efforts to instigate a crisis have a problem in their thought process. Responding to those who accused the committee of adopting a selective attitude due to its decision to postpone the submission of its report on the Exceptional Pension Bill, he revealed that the committee asked the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) to provide the information it needs for completion of the report; but the latter has yet to respond to its request. He added the proposed exceptional pension is not limited to senior officials such as ministers, undersecretaries and assistant undersecretaries; as the beneficiaries include the military personnel, those with disabilities, children of martyrs and those who applied for early retirement.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen has submitted a number of proposals for the benefit of those who graduated from the Political Science and Foreign Relations departments at the College of Social Science in Kuwait University. Al-Shaheen suggested a unified job title for these graduates — primary researcher for Political Sciences and Foreign Relations, instead of administrative transaction coordinator; increasing the number of graduates appointed as diplomats and administrative staff at Ministry of Foreign Affairs; increasing the age requirement in the job advertisements of the ministry to include those with masters and doctorate degrees; appointing some of them as teachers of relevant subjects under the Ministry of Education after passing the educational training course; and ensuring that the number of students in both departments match the manpower needs of the labor market.

Meanwhile, MP Osama Al-Zaid asked Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Barrak Al-Shiitan about the effect of the delayed filling up of vacant senior positions on the implementation of the government’s program. He also forwarded queries to Minister of Commerce and Industry and State Minister for Communications and Information Technology Affairs Mazen Al-Nahed about the cost of the anchors project in Fintas that Kuwait Ports Authority announced in February 2019, economic benefit of the project and reason behind its delayed completion.

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