Kuwait parliament session cancelled amid row

A meeting of Kuwait’s parliament was cancelled yesterday when the cabinet boycotted the session after a row over plans by opposition lawmakers to quiz the embattled finance minister. Local media and analysts say Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali may step down rather than face a vote of no confidence and risk triggering a deeper political crisis. The minister was not available for comment yesterday when contacted by telephone, but a senior government official said Shamali would go through with the questioning session. “Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali will not resign before stepping up to be interrogated,” Information Minister Sheikh Mohamed al-Mubarak al-Sabah said in comments carried online by Al Rai newspaper. Opposition lawmakers want to quiz Shamali over alleged financial irregularities in departments he oversees. Shamali has repeatedly rejected the accusations but said he was willing to be face questions according to parliamentary rules. The cabinet walked out of Tuesday’s session, saying the current plan to question Shamali was unconstitutional because it merged two separate requests from MPs. Yesterday, the cabinet did not arrive for the session, signalling a rise in tensions between Kuwait’s government and parliament. “This is a political show. If he goes through one “grilling” session, I think he will resign afterwards because it is almost certain he cannot win a confidence vote,” said Ghanim al-Najjar, political science professor at Kuwait University. “If not there is a possibility of a snap election, this is growing by the hour,” he said. Kuwait’s Al Watan newspaper speculated in an editorial last week that Shamali may step down as finance minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle. The country ushered in its fourth parliament in six years after a snap election in February which was triggered by another political row between the government and parliament. Opposition, mainly Islamist MPs, won a majority of seats. “Today’s session was adjourned because some members of parliament still insist on merging two grilling motions filed against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mustapha al-Shamali,” state news agency Kuna said. Shamali, 69, has worked in the finance ministry for more than four decades. He first became finance minister in 2007 and held on to the position through several cabinet reshuffles and questioning sessions in parliament. Kuwaiti opposition parliamentarians accused the previous administration of links to illicit financial transfers abroad in a separate political row. A Kuwaiti judicial tribunal has cleared the most senior figure, former prime minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohamed al-Sabah, of any wrongdoing. A separate parliamentary inquiry is ongoing. Sheikh Nasser’s government resigned last year following the accusations from opposition lawmakers.