KUWAIT: Opposition MPs Riyadh Al-Adasani and Adel Al-Damkhi yesterday filed to grill State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Adel Al-Khorafi over alleged constitutional violations and advised him to step down. The grilling accused the minister, who has been a member in the Cabinet for barely a few months, of not performing his duties listed in Amiri decrees and the country's laws - mainly boosting cooperation between the National Assembly and the government.
Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the grilling will be placed on the agenda of the March 20 session as it cannot be listed in today's session because it was submitted less than 48 hours before the session. But the Assembly can decide to debate it today through a vote. But the debate is highly expected to take place on March 20, unless the minister seeks an extension from the Assembly, also through a vote.
The two lawmakers called on Khorafi to quit before the grilling debate in order to spare himself major embarrassment and a possible political crisis. Adasani said: "I tell the prime minister that if Khorafi remains in his post, it will develop into a crisis between the Assembly and the government that could develop into a grilling of the prime minister himself". He charged that the minister has failed over a large number of constitutional procedures and his appointment in the Cabinet involved some suspicious measures.
Damkhi said the grilling tackled the minister's appointment, his role, plans and credibility. He advised the minister against facing the grilling because his credibility will be at stake. There was no immediate comment from Khorafi, who was a member of parliament in the previous Assembly but opted not to contest last October's elections.
The grilling charges that Khorafi, whose main responsibility is to bring the Assembly and the government closer and improve cooperation, has failed in his job. It said the minister has abandoned his main responsibility of making proposals to improve government-Assembly ties and coordinating with ministries to avoid negative comments by the Audit Bureau on their finances and project executions.
His "inefficient" performance resulted in administrative failure and in committing mistakes and violations, the grilling said. The MPs said a question was sent to the former defense minister through Khorafi, and he sent a response prepared by the former minister although a new defense minister was appointed in the meantime. They described this action as a major violation of the law and the constitution. A grilling could lead to submitting a no-confidence motion, which if approved, would automatically dismiss the minister.
By B Izzak