Kuwaiti lawmaker move to grill PM

A Kuwaiti lawmaker has bowed to pressure from colleagues and decided not to go ahead with a motion to grill the prime minister. The move by lawmaker Abed Al Wasmi was supported by some lawmakers, but resisted, mainly yesterday morning, by his bloc and by other MPs who said the government deserved a grace period to materialise its promises. The decision to grill Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah was made less than a week after the formation of Kuwait's government and the convening of the newly-elected parliament. Storming of TV station MP Abed Al Wasmi attributed the quizzing to negative attitudes towards tribesmen and the double standards in the application of the law on detainees in the storming of Al Watan television and those held in the protests by stateless Bidoons. Several members of Al Mutair family, to which Al Wasmi belongs, were arrested for their alleged role in smashing into a private television station on the eve of the parliamentary elections on February 2 to express their anger with a candidate who was participating in a programme being aired. The authorities said that they would apply the law against those found guilty of breaking the law. Kuwaiti media yesterday reported that Al Wasmi had charged the prime minister of failing to manage the affairs of the state properly. "With all my respect for you, your highness the prime minister, you are incapable of running the state, and the government you have formed is not even good enough to be a football team," he reportedly said. "Your government is like a spider's web that I can blow up in a breath. I will file the motion to grill the prime minister and the interior minister. Restoring calm at the expense of our dignity is unacceptable," he said. Tribe backing Other lawmakers from Al Mutair tribe endorsed the grilling motion. "This is a matter of dignity and the state should make moves about it," MP Muslim Al Barak said. MPs Mubarak Al Waalan, Mohammad Hayef, Khalid Shakhir said that they endorsed the grilling. However, MP Falah Al Sawwagh said the motion to grill the premier was premature.