Speaker Says All's Fine After Meeting Premier
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SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013 RAJAB 6, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Ex-officer Indian medics DiCaprio Last-gasp ‘tricked’ 8 conduct ‘perfect’ opens 66th goal wins Filipinas into op on baby’s Cannes Europa League sex racket3 swollen28 head film38 fest for20 Chelsea Speaker says all’s fine Max 40º Min 28º after meeting premier High Tide 04:03 & 14:05 Prosecution summons Barrak supporters for repeating speech Low Tide 08:53 & 21:37 40 PAGES NO: 15810 150 FILS By B Izzak Ruling may KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Ali Al-Rashed said yesterday that he believes “things were moving in the right direction” after he discussed the latest political standoff with Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al- hit economy Mubarak Al-Sabah. Rashed told reporters after the meeting that the government will not ask for the with- drawal of the two grillings submitted on Tuesday that KUWAIT: A ruling by Kuwait’s top court cent rise in the stock market since the triggered the first clash between the government and next month could end a period of rela- start of this year, could come to an end the Assembly seen as very loyal to the government. The tive political stability, jeopardising gov- on June 16. The constitutional court is government however boycotted the Assembly session ernment plans to push ahead with long- expected to rule on an emergency yesterday for the second day in a row and Rashed said delayed economic projects. One of the decree issued by HH the Amir last year, the government will not attend today’s special session world’s richest countries per capita, six weeks before the December poll, too. Kuwait has struggled for years to get big which changed the rules for voting and The speaker sounded positive about the future, hint- infrastructure projects off the ground triggered some of the largest street ing that the next parliamentary session on May 28 is because of bureaucratic red tape and protests in the country’s history. likely to go ahead as usual. Rashed also denied reports political turmoil. A parliamentary elec- If the court rules that the decree was that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah tion in December was the fifth in six not constitutional, parliament will need might invoke article 106 of the constitution which stipu- years. The election seemed to be a turn- to be dissolved, triggering a snap elec- lates the suspension of the Assembly for one month. ing point, however, since an opposition tion, and legislation passed by the The speaker said he would explain the outcome of his boycott of the poll meant members of assembly may also be made invalid - talks with the prime minister to MPs during a meeting parliament seen as more willing to coop- sending Kuwait back to square one in today. erate with the government were elected. economic policy terms, or close to it. “An The first standoff between the government and the This stirred investor hopes that the annulment of the current parliament and Assembly, elected in December amid a total opposition state would ramp up spending under a the return of major political uncertainty boycott, was triggered by two requests filed by MPs to KD 30 billion ($105 billion) development would be negative for investor percep- question the oil and interior ministers over a variety of plan, which aims to draw private and for- tions and the economy,” said Farouk alleged violations but the main focus has been on the eign investment and diversify the oil- Soussa, Middle East chief economist at KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the Amiri Airport payment of the $2.2 penalty to US Dow Chemical. MPs reliant economy. That optimism, which Citigroup in Dubai. have strongly criticized the government’s behaviour in has helped to fuel a more than 30 per- Continued on Page 13 yesterday. The Amir congratulated the Crown Prince on the successful surgery he underwent in Germany. — KUNA Continued on Page 13 THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013 LOCAL Kuwait contributes $60m at Mali donor conference BRUSSELS: Kuwait’s Minister of opment of the infrastructure of the coun- Commerce and Industry, Anas Khalid Al- try. Kuwait has been a regular donor to Saleh, announced here yesterday that program in Mali in areas including trans- Kuwait will contribute $60 million for the port, energy, rural development, water development of Mali. “I have the honor as supply and agriculture since October the special envoy of His Highness the 1976 and we shall continue to do so,” Amir to represent the state of Kuwait at stated stressd the Kuwaiti minister. this conference to address the challenges We are also aware that challenges the Republic of Mali is facing and assist faced by Mali are shared by its neighbors, Mali to chart its future,” he told a donors’ he said and called for continued involve- conference on Mali in Brussels. ment in collective projects for the devel- “We are glad to announce that the opment of the Sahel region. “We look for- State of Kuwait shall contribute $60 mil- ward to addressing these issues and the lion, $10 million as a grant to Mali and challenges facing the African continet as the other $50 million as concessional a whole during the coming Afro-Arab loans,” he said. summit which Kuwait shall host in “We shall continue to assist the devel- November,” he added. — KUNA Kuwaitis ‘extremely upset’ over Dow fine: Survey KUWAIT: A majority of Kuwaitis surveyed lished by Al-Qabas yesterday further shows in a recent opinion poll expressed “extreme that 85 percent of people surveyed were frustration” with the recent developments aware about the deal with Dow Chemical, regarding the K-Dow deal and the huge and 84 percent said that they knew the financial loss that the state funds suffered punitive fine’s quantum. In the meantime, as a result, a local newspaper reported yes- 33 percent of people blamed the govern- terday. ment for the problem while 28 percent The survey was carried out by Innova held the parliament responsible. Consulting Company which was assigned The Kuwaiti government had called off by Al-Qabas newspaper to survey public the deal to establish what was to be known opinion about the payment of more than as K-Dow Petrochemicals in late 2008 KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday received a group of iconic women who expressed gratitude $2.2 million to US-based Dow Chemical as under pressure from the opposition in the on the 8th anniversary of granting Kuwaiti women their political rights on May 16, 2005. — KUNA per the penalty clause in a joint venture parliament, prompting Dow Chemical to contract that was canceled in 2008. A total sue for damages as per a penalty clause in of 2020 Kuwaitis of different age groups the contract. Kuwait finds citizenships were asked about the row in the survey, The American company won last year an and 97 percent of them expressed disap- international court order stipulating that pointment at the huge financial loss that the Petrochemical Industries Company, a the state suffered. Meanwhile, 91 percent wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait of 67K stateless residents felt that the government did not handle Petroleum Corporation, pay a $2.16 billion this issue in a professional manner. fine for canceling the contract to establish The survey whose results were pub- the $7.4 billion joint venture. — Al-Qabas Stateless residents remain around 100,000 KUWAIT: Kuwait has managed to find the origi- entry into Kuwait, as well as marriage and birth The government also adopted last year a new nal nationalities of 67,000 stateless residents liv- certificates in which the nationality is specified. form of security IDs for the stateless residents ing on its land, who were among the 93,000 reg- “Applying for citizenship in this case is con- which were to be used as their main form of istered with a government body whose job was sidered an act of forgery,” Al-Fadhala said, insist- identification. The cards contained color coded to find a solution to the thorny subject, a senior ing that the agency planned to “confront” the tags referring to the category under which a state official said in a recent statement. stateless residents with the information it has. holder is recognized in state records; including “We have retrieved the civil ID number, pass- He further indicated that Kuwait was coordinat- those eligible for naturalization and others the port number and nationality of 67,000 individu- ing with the respective countries of the ‘fake’ government claims to have proof that they als in coordination with state departments,” said stateless residents, adding that planned visits to belong to other countries. For example, a bearer Saleh Al-Fadhala, the president of the Central Iraq and Syria in this regard are currently on hold of a red-tagged card was classified under ‘people Apparatus for Illegal Residents, during an inter- pending the security situation there. with criminal restrictions’ which renders natural- view with Kuwait TV. The Kuwaiti government established the ization applications automatically infructuous. Kuwait’s community of stateless residents, Central Agency for Illegal Residents in 2010 with Last March, the parliament passed a bill dou- estimated at around 100,000, demands citizen- a five-year ultimatum to sort out the issue bling the number of people the government can ship as well as civil and social rights they are regarding the stateless residents’ community naturalize each year to a maximum of 4000 after deprived of, given their illegal residence status.