KUWAIT: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a law allowing foreign companies and investors to operate in the country without the need for a local agent, a step expected to open the doors for foreign investments. Fifty-six MPs, including Cabinet ministers, voted for the law, while one MP objected. The law removes the precondition that foreign investors must have a local agent to be able to work in Kuwait. Under the law, foreign companies and investors can now open offices and work on projects in the country with no need for a local representative.

MPs believe this will encourage more foreign investors to do business in Kuwait and that the cost of projects will be significantly reduced. But several MPs called for improving the business environment in the country to reap the benefits of the law. The Assembly also passed another legislation to reduce the duration for the rehabilitation of political prisoners despite the government’s rejection. The law is expected to allow a large number of former prominent opposition lawmakers to contest parliamentary polls.

MPs described the law to reduce the rehabilitation period for those who were handed prison terms as a major political reform, as it will allow former politicians who were sentenced to prison terms to re-enter the political arena. Under present Kuwaiti law, most prisoners who were handed jail terms on criminal offenses have to wait for around 10 years to be rehabilitated. During those 10 years, they are barred from getting jobs.

But the voting of Cabinet ministers against the law indicates that the government is going to send the law back to the Assembly. MP Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the government informed lawmakers on Monday it will oppose the law under orders from the political leadership. If the law is returned by the government, the Assembly can overturn the government’s objections if it passes the law with a two-thirds majority and the government must accept it.

MPs also agreed to ask the Assembly’s human rights committee to investigate the case of Kuwaiti citizen Turki Al-Enezi who was allegedly illegally arrested and tortured by the army intelligence unit. MP Ghanem, who was the first to expose the issue, blasted Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, accusing him of interfering in investigation committees and cast doubt about the integrity of the probe panel he ordered the defense ministry to form.

Ghanem said he does not trust investigation panels which the defense minister can influence. He repeated accusations that the army intelligence physically tortured Enezi, who was the private driver of former defense minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, when he told them Sheikh Khaled did not go to Ghanem and his brother Khaled. Ghanem also accused some members of the human rights panel of being corrupt.

The defense minister told MPs that no one in Kuwait can accept any citizen to be tortured, adding that he has asked the military judiciary unit to investigate the case and allowed other government legal departments to be in the committee. He also said the government has opened the door for the parliament to take part in the investigation. He stressed that those found guilty will be held to account.

The minister revealed the ministry’s investigation found two other cases linked to the so-called army fund case in which the former defense minister was sentenced to seven years in jail. In the first case, the ministry found highly sensitive spy devices were bought by the army fund and were not found in the military, while the second case involved smuggling liquor using military planes.