Kuwait participates in Asian Group meeting at IPU assembly

GENEVA: Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (center right) heads the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation during a meeting at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). —KUNA

GENEVA: A Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation have easily refuted allegations and complaints by a current and former Kuwaiti MPs, said Kuwait's National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem. The hearing committee at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was presented with a detailed and constitutionally-adequate demonstration by the parliamentary caucus members to refute such "lies," Ghanem, who arrived in Geneva earlier this week heading a delegation to respond to the claims, told reporters after the hearing late Friday.

"As a matter of fact, it was very easy, because the claims were simply lies contradicting reality... and we presented proof supported by documents and video in response to each claim," the Kuwaiti top lawmaker pointed out. "I deem it defamation," said Ghanem in reference to complaints filed by MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri and former MP Abdulhameed Dashti against the Kuwaiti parliament.

Along with Ghanem, MP Safaa Al-Hashem presented their counter case before the IPU committee, which included detailed and elaborated responses supported by audio-visual evidence, documents and minutes.

Islamic Group session

Ghanem chaired yesterday a coordination meeting by the Islamic group on sidelines of the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly. Emerging from the session, Ghanem said the State of Kuwait presided over the coordination meeting in response to the group members' request.

The conferees reached a consensus on merging proposals regarding the unscheduled topic on Jerusalem, presented by Kuwait, Palestine, Bahrain and Turkey on Jerusalem. The Europeans presented a proposal on violence against women, with the illicit intention to scuttle the proposal on Jerusalem. "We have decided to merge the two proposals into one addressing hardships suffered by the women in the occupied Arab territories," he said. Kuwaiti MPs are currently partaking in a panel meeting to work out this proposal final wording, he added.

Asian Group meeting

Kuwait's Parliamentary Group took part yesterday in a coordination meeting by the Asian Group on sidelines of the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly. The Asian Group discussed IPU's agendas, Dr Khalil Abul, member of the Kuwaiti parliamentary caucus, told reporters after the meeting.

"We have agreed to combine a resolution draft by the Kuwaiti group, which condemns Israeli occupation authorities' actions against the Palestinian people, with two similar drafts by Bahrain and Palestine, making them one draft submitted by three countries," Abul added. "We will review during the Arabic Group's coordinating meeting, slated for later, what has been agreed upon during the Asian Group meeting in order to coordinate items for the final resolution draft," he said.

"We also agreed the resolution draft would be in favor of Palestine," the Kuwaiti MP noted, adding that the Palestinian Group would be given the power to draft the unified resolution and submit it to IPU's General Assembly for voting. The Asian Group meeting was attended also by MPs Ali Al-Deqbasi and Hashem. Ghanem is currently leading Kuwait's Parliamentary Group to the IPU Assembly. Parliamentarians from over 137 countries will discuss parliamentary amendments to UN-led reforms on the rights and protection of migrants and refugees. During the five-day 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, between March 23 and 28, more than 740 MPs will discuss a "new migration regime." "MPs will look in detail at their contribution to ensuring domestic enforcement of the two related Global Compacts expected to be adopted by the UN community later this year," said an IPU's statement.

The IPU Assembly will also run two workshops and a high-level interactive panel on the matter followed by discussions on universal health coverage. IPU Members will also adopt a resolution on sustaining peace as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development and another on engaging the private sector in implementing UN-adopted Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in relation to renewable energy. - KUNA