(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Tuesday’s parliamentary session was cut short one hour after its commencement and adjourned to Wednesday when 13 (the so-called) minority MPs refused to remove the black flags which they had placed in front of their tables to call the change in the wording of a lawsuit by the currentParliament Office a ‘Black Day’. The lawsuit was filed by the former Parliament Office when some citizens and the-then MPs had stormed the National Assembly premises.For this reason the grilling request, which had been filed by MP Saleh Ashour against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, could not be debated.Although constitutionally the Prime Minister has the choice to request a two-week postponement of the grilling among other options such as referring it to the National Assembly’s Legislative Committee or even the Constitutional Court, he has shown his intention to face the grillers in an open session without delay.
The issue will now be debated on the floor of the Parliament during Wednesday’s session.This came when the ‘majority’ accused the ‘minority’ of disrupting the session and demanded the black flags be removed in the interest of the session and as a sign of respect for the Parliament.Meanwhile, the Parliament Speaker, Ahmed Al-Saadoun demanded a vote on removal of the flags. The majority voted for the removal but the minority MPs refused saying it was their right to protest in this manner.At this point, a heated debate ensued between the majority and the minority MPs prompting the Speaker to adjourn the session after almost 30 minutes waiting for the removal of flags. At some point Deputy Speaker, MP Khalid Al-Sultan announced the Parliament had to be adjourned because the flags were still in their places.The minority MPs who brought the flags are: Ali Al-Rashed (Liberal), Mohamed Al-Saqr (Liberal), Marzouk Al-Ghanim (Liberal), Abdul Hameed Dashti (Shiite), Faisal Al-Duwaisan (Shiite), Adnan Al-Mutawa (Shiite), Nabil Al-Fadhel (Liberal), Mohamed Al-Juwaihel (Liberal), Saleh Ashour (Shiite), Hussein Al-Qallaf (Shiite), Ahmed Lari (Shiite), Adnan Abdul-Samad (Shiite), and Ali Al-Omar (Islamist).Meanwhile, ten of these MPs, excluding Ali Al-Omar, Marzouk Al-Ghanem and Mohammed Al-Saqr presented a request to discuss the decision of the Parliament Office to correct the lawsuit No.946/2011 presented to the Prosecution by the previous Parliament Office.However, MP Ali Al-Omair denied he put a black flag on his desk. He added though he was asked by Dashti to do so he rejected and told him he had expressed his rejection through a statement the move made by the current Parliament Office (to change the wording of the lawsuit).To this effect, the minority held a press conference defending their decision to place the black flag as their right to protest the move taken by the Parliament Office. After the press conference they also held a meeting in the office of Al-Qallaf and agreed to continue their protest and remove the flags during Wednesday’s session.During the press conference, the minority displayed a placard showing how the demonstrators and the MPs stormed the Parliament building on Nov 16, 2011.Liberal MP Nabil Al-Fadhel said he was behind the idea of bring the black flags. He added, “The flag does not represent Shiite MPs but a symbol of protest of the black day and tampering with the truth.” He noted the move was rotten and a suspicious attempt by the Parliament Office to falsify the facts and change the lawsuit.He added the move was also an attempt to rescue some current MPs who committed the crime (of storming the Parliament). He added all members of the current Parliament Office were involved in the incident except Marzouq Al-Ghanem. He also refuted the allegation that the previous lawsuit was politically motivated.
He said the case was a lawsuit and not a complaint and if the previous Parliament Office did not present it as a lawsuit, it would have been questioned by the law complaint. He added “the strange thing is that the perpetrators are still proud of what they did and claimed to be heroes, but now they are running away from their responsibility by trying to change the wording of the lawsuit.”For his part, Al-Qallaf stressed the Parliament storming was done by force because it happened during a demonstration and was supported by the then MPs. He added, the current Speaker should call witnesses including securitymen who were injured during the storming before taking any decision.He challenged whether there is a law that prevents any MP from expressing his displeasure over any violation of Parliament’s sanctity and therefore preventing them from peaceful, civilized and democratic expression.Faisal Al-Duwaisan asserted they waved the black flag in solidarity with HH the Amir who called the storming of the Parliament a black day. He added “This is a peaceful expression of our protest of changing the lawsuit which is a coward move this office took.”Asked if the minority will raise the black flag in Wednesday’s session, Al-Duwaisan replied that they will study the issue and announce their stand later.Abdul-Hameed Dashti argued, according to Article 39 of the parliamentary by-law, the new Parliament is not mandated to change the wording of the lawsuit which was filed by the previous office, adding “the adjournment of the session was not the right thing to do, and the Speaker will pay the price for this action.”
He said, “We have the pictures which confirm the Parliament was stormed by breaking and destroying some of its contents and we have the right to oppose this action. We will not be false witnesses to what is done by this Parliament Office which has overstepped its powers.”MP Ahmed Lari asserted the pictures on the placard indicate the Parliament was stormed. He added the issue is about the majority trying to impose its opinion instead of embracing the majority with the aim of making achievements. He warned if this method continues in this way then things will not go well in the current Parliament.He called on all MPs to focus on the important issues which the Parliament needs to achieve for the country and its citizens.For his part, MP Saleh Ashour said the black flags will be present during Wednesday’s session as well and will not be removed unless the office withdraws the fabrication of the Parliament storming lawsuit.
On the other side, a number of the majority bloc lawmakers lamented what they described as “the disruptive behavior of the minority MPs.” They accused the Shiites of attempting to delay the discussions on the priorities of this Assembly.“The Medical City draft law would have been approved by now if not for their disruptions,” said MP Khalid Al-Shukhair, “If this is repeated in the next session then the Speaker must use his powers and request the guards to remove the flags.”MP Falah Al-Sawagh added the minority MPs should have respected the opinion of the majority who wanted the removal of the black flags. “We will not allow the minority to delay the development that is desired by the Kuwaiti people,” he stated.MP Mubarak Al-Walaan reiterated that the main reason for this occurrence was to delay the session. “I call on (Speaker) Al-Saadoun to apply Article 89 of internal regulations and remove from the hall the MPs who refuse to implement the decision of the Assembly and not to adjourn the session.”Furthermore, MP Musallam Al-Barrak suggested that the MPs could have submitted a request to discuss the Parliament storming report as per the democratic process. “The storming did not disrupt the sessions and the report by former speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi was the fabricated one as it sought life prison sentences for those who broke into the parliament.”He revealed he will insist that his parliament immunity is lifted so that he may face court and prove that the MPs did not forcibly enter Abdullah Al-Salem Hall last November.Deputy Speaker MP Khaled Sultan, meanwhile, assured that the amendments to the report “has removed many discrepancies and denies that any severe damage occurred within the hall or that the main door was broken as stated by the previous report. It also included details that should reach the Public Prosecution.”
On his part, National Assembly Supervisor Faisal Al-Yahya said there is no doubt that all parties want the law to be implemented, “but we won’t accept that the Kuwaiti youth become victims of political settlements.”
He said the youth who participated in the rally last November are not criminals or trouble-makers, but are the children of Kuwait who went all out to fight corruption.
/106+s.m.h