By B Izzak

KUWAIT: A lawmaker on Tuesday called on the government to deport 1.8 million expats, some 55 percent of all foreigners in the country, in a bid to amend the population structure currently tilting heavily in favor of expats. "Stray (foreign) laborers have entered private homes ... and the government is silent toward amending the population structure" MP Fares Al-Oteibi said during a special debate on the government's four-year program. "We must deport 1.8 million of these laborers" the lawmaker called.

Based on official figures, the number of expats remained almost unchanged at 3.3 million, about 69 percent of Kuwait's total population of 4.8 million. The government has repeatedly pledged to take measures to cut the number of expats in Kuwait but the number has not dropped, but at the same time stopped to grow as it did in the past years.

The government has been adopting a stricter policy towards issuing new visas for expats, restricting the issuance of dependent visas or visit visas. The issuance of work visas has also been rationalized. MP Abdullah Fahhad also criticized the government for not including concrete policies for amending the population structure to increase the percentage of citizens in the population mix. In its program, the government said it plans to review the residency law governing the stay of expats in Kuwait, but provided no details on the planned measures.

During the debate, lawmakers strongly rejected government plans to impose taxes, review the charges on public services, in addition to a public debt legislation. "We will not accept a program headlined by raising charges, imposing taxes and a public debt law. It is clear the government's policy has not changed" MP Hamdan Al-Azemi said. MP Marzouk Al-Ghanem said the program "is simply a number of wishes, dreams and hopes ... but it lacks the mechanisms of implementation".

He called on the prime minister to explain the program to the people. He added that the government should submit legislation directly on issues like national identity and citizenship and resolving the problem of stateless people or Bedouns. MPs Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf and Hamad Al-Olayan criticized the program for lacking plans for political reforms. MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf said improving the standard of living of citizens is not a priority in the program.

At the end of the debate, MPs approved recommendations - calling on the government to transfer Kuwait into a hub for Islamic finance, providing the Assembly with reports on the progress of the program every three months and explaining the program online to the people. In its program, the government said it plans to implement 107 projects costing billions of dinars, including opening the new Kuwait Airport terminal, repairing thousands of kilometers of roads, operating the long-delayed Mubarak Al-Kabir Containers Harbour in addition to many other projects.