By B Izzak
KUWAIT: A serious political-constitutional crisis is looming over the National Assembly and is likely to drag in the government. The new problem was triggered by the removal of leading opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum's name from the list of lawmakers on the assembly website. The constitutional court last week revoked the membership of Dahoum because he was convicted in a political case in 2014.
Opposition MP Thamer Al-Suwait said that he was informed by the assembly secretary that the removal was done on orders from the speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem. Suwait and a large number of opposition lawmakers strongly criticized the move, saying the speaker has no right to do so because the assembly must vote on the issue.
The issue is very complicated since Dahoum was allowed to run in the election by the court of cassation and his membership revoked by the constitutional court, meaning two contradictory court rulings. Opposition MPs say the conflicting rulings must be resolved by the assembly in a floor voting and not by the speaker alone.
Dahoum said on Twitter that he is still a member of parliament and his issue must be decided in a vote in the assembly. Over 30 lawmakers have vowed to vote in favor of Dahoum remaining a member when the assembly resumes regular sessions, highly expected next week. Ghanem has not commented on the issue so far.