KUWAIT: MP Jenan Bushehri said on Tuesday she was officially informed that HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah has suspended the so-called “exceptional salaries” given to ministers and senior government officials. She said the prime minister has ordered authorities to accelerate studying the issue of the salaries of retired people and also the issue of the so-called “strategic payroll alternative”, a new wide-scale wage system for state workers.

The move comes after Bushehri announced two days ago she plans to grill Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Essa Al-Kandari over the issue of exceptional salaries. Bushehri said she will supply the government with her remarks and comments on the issue. Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun on Tuesday submitted a draft law requiring the government to impose reciprocal measures on countries that impose restrictions in granting visas to Kuwaitis.

The bill states citizens of foreign countries seeking entry visas to Kuwait will face the same treatment Kuwaitis face while seeking visas from those countries. The Cabinet will issue the necessary decisions to impose these reciprocal measures. Saadoun said that some foreign countries are imposing restrictions and measures like taking biometrics before granting Kuwaiti citizens entry visas, and as a result the government should take similar measures.

In another draft law, Saadoun proposed no loans will be awarded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to foreign countries without the prior approval of the National Assembly. The bill states that all loans given to foreign nations should be passed through laws to be approved by the Assembly.