By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Forty-eight MPs on Monday filed a motion calling to hold a special session on November 1 to express Kuwait’s National Assembly’s support and solidarity with the Palestinians against Zionist aggression on Gaza Strip. MP Hamad Al-Mudlej said he collected signatures of the lawmakers and submitted the motion to the National Assembly which is scheduled to open its new term on October 31.

The lawmakers said in the motion, they are calling for the special session as they represent the will of the Kuwaiti people who have strongly rejected the Zionist aggression against innocent Palestinians in Gaza. But MP Marzouk Al-Ghanem separately called for convening an emergency session of the Assembly to discuss the war on Gaza, the dispute over Khor Abdullah waterway with Iraq and the Dorrah gas field row with Iran. Ghanem said that a special parliamentary session cannot be held before the start of the Assembly’s new term on October 31 and the issues should not wait for two weeks to be debated.

The Assembly is now in summer recess. The lawmaker said he supports the motions by lawmakers but as a result of fast-paced developments in Gaza while Zionist sea, air and land bombardment is still ongoing amid reports of an imminent genocide land war on Gaza, it is better to hold an emergency session immediately. He said he has submitted a request to convene the emergency session to the National Assembly secretariat and urged other MPs to sign it. Holding an emergency session requires the approval of 33 lawmakers.

Ghanem said that he also submitted another motion to hold an emergency session of the Assembly to discuss “dangerous events around us” starting with the genocide in Gaza, the dispute over Khor Abdullah with Iraq and the row over Dorrah field after an Iranian minister flew over the field. He said that these developments constitute direct challenges to Kuwait national security and the government must have a clear and decisive position towards them. Kuwait has expressed strong solidarity and support to the Palestinian people against the barbaric aggression against Gaza which has so far killed over 2,700 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Kuwaitis staged several protests in which they condemned the carnage and also collected millions of dinars in material support to Gaza. Acting prime minister and interior minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said on Sunday that Kuwait remains at war with the Zionist gangs in accordance with an Amiri decree issued in 1967, which is still effective.

In the meantime, 42 lawmakers on Monday signed a motion calling on the government to complete the amnesty for Kuwaitis imprisoned on freedom of speeches cases. Dozens of prisoners have been pardoned by the Amir on two occasions but dozens others are either still in jail or have fled the country to escape serving the jail sentence. Those already pardoned include several prominent opposition leaders and former MPs. The lawmakers want to close this issue before the Assembly opens its new term on October 31.