Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Ahmed Al-Saadoun hailed a pardon issued by Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah for a number of Kuwaiti figures, who were either under arrest or living abroad.
On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers issued a statement pertaining to Decree No. 8 of 2023, which grants pardon to Kuwaiti figures, including personalities living abroad, who were sentenced in absentia.
In a statement, the Council of Ministers said that the move was expected to lead to “fruitful cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities, in accordance with the constitutional foundations.”
The media circulated the names of a number of those included in the decree, including members of the ruling family, former deputies, businessmen, political activists, and tweeters, some of whom are under arrest or live outside the country.
Observers expect the amnesty initiative would contribute to alleviating tension that increased over the past two weeks, as a result of disagreements between the government and members of the National Assembly over dropping loans and aid programs that MPs are seeking to push the government to approve.
“The overwhelming joy expressed by the Kuwaiti people on all platforms after the issuance of the pardon… is a true reflection of the importance of the decision, which the citizens have waited for several years,” MP Khaled Otaibi said in a press statement.
The Islamic Constitutional Movement, Hadas, issued a statement welcoming the Emiri pardon and calling for the amnesty to also include other figures.
Kuwaiti political analyst Dr. Ayed Al-Manna told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Emiri decree which granted pardon to a large number of Kuwaiti figures sentenced by judicial rulings “was positively welcomed by citizens, a number of parliamentarians, as well as political activists.”
“We hope that this will be the beginning of a better stage, which will see more cooperation between the two authorities,” he noted.
The Kuwaiti analyst added that the new decision could pave the way for resolving other outstanding issues, including housing, education, and investments inside Kuwait, as well as increasing the salaries of employees, allocating benefits to widows and divorced women, and providing job opportunities in the private sector.
