KUWAIT CITY, 9 March 2004 — Kuwait’s Parliament began yesterday questioning the state’s Finance Minister Mahmud Al-Nuri, hitting him with a barrage of accusations over the alleged squandering of public funds in a move that could force him out of office.
Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, chairing the session, gave the floor to leading opposition lawmaker Mussallam Al-Barrak, who launched a three-and-a-half-hour offensive and called on the minister to quit.
Barrak claimed Nuri had failed either to safeguard public funds against exploitation by “influential people” or act against an out-of-court settlement by Iraqi and Kuwaiti airlines and accused him of facing smuggling charges.
In one case, Barrak alleged the minister failed to curb “influential investors” from exploiting a large piece of state land costing state coffers more than $300 million. “You have failed to confront the influential people. You have failed to perform your duties to protect public funds,” Barrak charged. “You should have either confronted them or stayed at home.”
The opposition MP also accused Nuri of failure to act promptly against an out-of-court settlement by state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp. (KAC) with Iraqi Airways conceding some $750 million. Barrak claimed secret negotiations for the deal had started in February 2002 when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was still in power and were brokered by “an arms merchant.”
He also accused Nuri of not taking action to withdraw Kuwaiti government investments from Lebanon’s Casino du Liban despite the fact that gambling is totally forbidden under Islamic law.
Nuri, a reformist economist and government bureaucrat, was appointed to the Kuwaiti Cabinet for the first time in July following general elections which consolidated the government’s grip over the 50-member house.
Barrak also alleged that after assuming office the minister arbitrarily sacked the head of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Saleh Al-Falah, without “providing any justification for his action.”
Barrak is a member of Parliament’s six-member Popular Action Bloc headed by veteran MP and three-time former speaker Ahmad Al-Saadun, who is actively behind the questioning. After Barrak’s lengthy argument, the finance minister was allowed to begin explaining his position and deny the charges.
The public questioning could lead to a vote of no-confidence against the minister provided 10 MPs sign such a request. A simple majority of the 50 elected MPs is needed to dismiss him. At least four parliamentary groups including Islamists, who number at least 20 MPs, have declared they back the questioning, but only a few MPs have said they will support a no-confidence motion.
Meanwhile, in another development, Kuwait’s armed forces kicked off yesterday their largest maneuvers since the 1991 Gulf War, a defense official said. About 15,000 troops from the army, navy and the air force are taking part in the live-fire exercises that will last for three days, head of the Defense Ministry Moral Guidance Department Brig. Ahmad Al-Rahmani said.
“Almost all armed forces units, all support units, the navy and the air force will take part. They will use all types of weapons,” including those acquired from the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, Rahmani said.
Kuwait launched a multibillion rearmament drive soon after its liberation to rebuild its tiny military. It has already spent most of a $12-billion supplementary defense budget on buying advanced weapons over the past 12 years.
The main purpose of the major exercises, code-named Bairaq I, is to test the fighting capability of the rehabilitated army, especially its ability to defend the emirate against enemies.
Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah told the KUNA news agency the maneuvers were not related to the events taking place in Iraq.
