A regular session of parliament held to discuss a grilling motion against Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah by MP Riyadh Al-Adsani on Wednesday, ended with 10 lawmakers filing a no-confidence motion against the Interior Minister.
Announcing and admitting the no-confidence motion, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim said the motion would be taken up for discussion and vote through a special session of parliament on Wednesday, 20 November.
Al-Ghanim added that the lawmakers who supported the motion are Shuaib Al-Mowaizri, Mohammad Hayef, Abdulkarim Al-Kanderi, Mohammad Al-Mutair, Abdulwahab Al-Babtain, Khalil Abul, Bader Al-Mulla, Adel Al-Damkhi, Adnan Abdulsamad and Riyadh Al-Adsani.
During the one-axis interpellation against the minister, lawmaker Al-Adsani focused on the minister’s alleged “exploitation of authority through improper conduct, which illustrates a negligence of responsibility and indifference to the negative repercussions of this exploitation on the ministry, categorically affecting the public interest.”
Pointing to various financial irregularities and extravagance in the Interior Ministry’s budget, Al-Adsani said, “Minister Al-Jarrah took advantage of his powers and used the appropriations of the ministry in winning support and making financial settlements away from the relevant rules and statutes.”
The lawmaker stressed that there are “grave wrongdoings” that the ministry failed to refer to the public prosecution. “The State Audit Bureau has registered 13 irregularities against the Ministry of Interior, involving up to KD 212 million,” said Al-Adsani.
He also criticized the ministry for its failure to act against several bloggers who abuse social networking websites. He also called for more transparency and objectivity in addressing issues of public concern.
In his response to the interpellation and to the accusations made by Al-Adsani, the Interior Minister said the grilling against him were a “flagrant breach of constitutional boundaries.” He noted that the interpellation was based on “vague statements that have not been backed by evidence.”
He added that the irregularities mentioned in the interpellation, either did not occur during his time in office, or were related to matters that hh had already corrected. Sheikh Khaled condemned the language of the interpellation, which he said contained, “indecent comments, which violates one’s dignity.” Saying that he had been “deeply hurt” by some of the remarks, the minister pointed out that some of the comments infringed upon the parliament’s internal statutes.
He clarified that contrary to what was suggested in the interpellation, he had fully responded to the 10 inquiries raised in the interpellation. The minister concluded by saying that the Criminal Investigation Department is committed to its role, and acts in accordance with the limits of the law and regulations in force. He pointed out that neither he nor anyone else had the authority to intervene or put pressure on its investigations. The judiciary is the sole determining factor behind these investigations, he said.
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