MPs meet again on jailed lawmakers

Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh

KUWAIT: State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said yesterday that the government will complete the formation of the National Commission for Human Rights by appointing a chairman and a deputy within one month. He said after meeting with the National Assembly's human rights panel that the government will nominate two officials for the posts and seek the approval of the Assembly in accordance with the law.

The panel meeting was held to discuss why the government has not yet completed the formation of the rights commission. Saleh told the committee that the government believes that the formation of the rights commission is an international and a legal requirement and will take the necessary measures to do this. Kuwait has a number of independent and popular human rights organizations, in addition to the Assembly committee. The commission is an official rights body overseen jointly by the government and the Assembly.

Head of the Assembly's interior and defense committee MP Askar Al-Enezi said yesterday the panel discussed at a meeting draft laws to naturalize children of Kuwaiti widows and women divorced from foreign spouses, in addition to reducing the voting age to 18 from the current 21 and allowing servicemen to vote. He said interior ministry representatives asked for a period of two weeks to prepare answers to the issues, especially those related to citizenship.

He said the draft law under discussion stipulates that children of Kuwaiti women who are divorced or widowed will be granted Kuwaiti citizenship automatically when they reach 21 years of age. The bill also states that naturalization for these cases will no longer be optional. Enezi said 10 lawmakers have submitted a motion about debating the numbers to be naturalized this year, adding that there is an agreement with the interior minister that the number will not exceed 4,000. The panel has taken no decision on the amendment of the election law, delaying it for future meetings.

Nine lawmakers in the meantime met yesterday to discuss the case of the two jailed MPs after the court of cassation did not start hearing their case because the public prosecution has not sent the case to the court yet. The opposition MPs in the meeting criticized the government's promises on the issue, saying nothing has been fulfilled.

By B Izzak