MP demands probe into high-profile graft cases

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Opposition lawmaker Saleh Al-Mutairi said yesterday he has submitted a proposal asking the National Assembly public funds protection committee to investigate a string of high-profile alleged corruption cases. He said the proposal demands that the committee should be given two months to complete its investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering cases, in addition to suspected illegal bank deposits and foreign transfers.

The alleged cases of corruption and money laundering mentioned by the lawmaker involve several billions of dollars. Some of the cases have either been investigated or are under investigation by the public prosecution. High-ranking figures are among many officials who have been interrogated for having suspected links to those cases.

Meanwhile, opposition MP Muhannad Al-Sayer yesterday said that a grilling he filed along with two other lawmakers against the prime minister is still valid and must be added to the agenda of the next Assembly session. Sayer said the vote taken by the Assembly last week to postpone all grillings against the prime minister until the end of 2022 is illegal because it did not fulfil the required constitutional procedures.

Opposition lawmakers claim the decision did not secure the necessary majority to be legal, although Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem insisted that the decision is legitimate and effective. MP Sayer also called on the speaker to step down voluntarily because a large number of lawmakers are against him. Former three-time Assembly speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun said on Twitter yesterday that even if the vote fulfilled all procedural requirements, it is null and void because it breaches the constitution.

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