10 Kuwaiti MPs File No-Confidence Motion Against Finance Minister

Part of the Kuwaiti Parliament’s session on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 (AFP)
Part of the Kuwaiti Parliament’s session on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 (AFP)
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10 Kuwaiti MPs File No-Confidence Motion Against Finance Minister

Part of the Kuwaiti Parliament’s session on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 (AFP)
Part of the Kuwaiti Parliament’s session on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 (AFP)

Ten Kuwaiti lawmakers on Tuesday filed a no-confidence motion against Finance Minister Barak al-Shitan.

According to Kuwait’s Parliament Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim, the request came after the parliament discussed in its regular session motion filed by MP Riyadh al-Adsani.

Adsani grilled the minister for the second time in a few weeks over almost the same issues and this time accused the minister of attempting to overburden citizens with additional charges.

It includes three axes, the first of which is related to the 2020 economic document, the Public Institution for Social Security, as well as financial issues and misleading of public opinion.

Ghanim said that the parliament “may not issue its decision in this regard before seven days of the submission date,” in accordance with article 102 of the constitution and article 144 of the National Assembly’s regulations.

Voting on the request will take place in a special session on Wednesday, he added.

Ghanim further explained that Article 101 states that “every minister should live up to the responsibilities and duties of their positions, and if the parliament loses confidence in any of the ministers, then they should step down immediately.”

The no-confidence motion can only go through if approved by an “overwhelming majority,” amid a voting process in parliament, one that ministers are barred from taking part, he noted.

The 10 MPs are Rakan al-Nasef, Omar al-Tabtabaei, Mubarak al-Hajraf, Ahmad al-Fadhl, Safa al-Hashem and Khalil al-Saleh, as well as Khaled al-Shatti, Salah Khorshed, Saleh Ashour, and Adasani.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.