Kuwait’s Interior Minister Faces Second Vote of Confidence

Kuwait’s Interior Minister Faces Second Vote of Confidence
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Kuwait’s Interior Minister Faces Second Vote of Confidence

Kuwait’s Interior Minister Faces Second Vote of Confidence

Kuwaiti Speaker Marzouq Ali al-Ghanim announced that 10 lawmakers submitted a request for a vote of confidence against Interior Minister Anas Saleh. The session also included another grilling motion against Minister of Education and Higher Education Saud al-Harbi.

This is the second grilling request in less than two weeks against Saleh, after the National Assembly discussed in its regular session another one submitted by MP Mohammed Hayef.

The Speaker clarified that the voting session on the two ministers' confidence motion will be held in a special session on September 10.

The National Assembly approved the request of the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah to postpone his grilling by MPs Abdulkarim al-Kanderi and al-Humaidi al-Subaie.

The parliament approved 15 September as the date for the grilling.

The assembly began to discuss the questioning submitted by MP Muhammad Hayef against Saleh, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.

MP Khalid al-Otaibi called upon the Interior Minister to resign, noting that over a thousand files are missing from the State Security, which may be related to the Malaysian Fund case.

Lawmaker Ali al-Deqbasi opposed the questioning, asserting that the Minister is paying the price for the bold measures he took.

In August, the parliament rejected a no-confidence vote against Saleh, after the motion was opposed by 35 MPs and supported by 13, of the total 48 lawmakers present during the session.

The vote came regarding the 2018 “leaked recordings” issue, which created a massive public uproar in the country after discovering that personal accounts of prominent public figures, among them lawmakers and journalists, were being monitored.

In addition, three lawmakers began a grilling against the Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education.

Two grilling motions, one from MP al-Humaidi al-Subai and the other from MPs Khalil Abul and Ouda al-Ruwaiee were combined into one and the minister was answering them.

Subai accused Harbi of failing to abide by regulations of Council of Ministers and Civil Services Commission (CSC) regarding the priority of employment for Kuwaiti citizens. He also accused the Minister of failing to adopt proper decisions during the coronavirus pandemic crisis.

Abul and Ruwaiee claimed that Harbi stalled the implementation of online education, mismanagement, and undermining the private education system.

They also accused the minister of adopting decisions without considering quality criteria, delay in announcing scholarships, as well as failing to issue university degrees for stateless students despite completing their studies.



Lebanese Politician Accuses Israel of Increasing Bombardment to Wring Concessions

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Lebanese Politician Accuses Israel of Increasing Bombardment to Wring Concessions

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker has accused Israel of ramping up its bombardment of Lebanon in order to pressure the government to make concessions in indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah.

Elias Bou Saab, an ally of the Iran-backed group, said Monday that the pressure has increased because “we are close to the hour that is decisive regarding reaching a ceasefire.”

“We are optimistic, and there is hope, but nothing is guaranteed with a person like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu),” Bou Saab told reporters.

Israel has carried out heavy strikes in central Beirut in recent days, while Hezbollah has increased its rocket fire into Israel.

The United States is trying to broker an agreement in which Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon and Lebanese troops would patrol the region, along with a UN peacekeeping force.

Israel has demanded freedom of action to strike Hezbollah if it violates the ceasefire, but Bou Saab said that was not part of the emerging agreement.

He also said Israel had accepted that France be part of the committee overseeing the ceasefire after Lebanese officials insisted. There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli side.

Israel has objected to France being on the committee in the wake of the International Criminal Court’s decision last week to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas military commander.

France said it supports the court. It said the question of whether it would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot on French soil was a “complex legal issue” that would have to be worked out.