KUWAIT CITY, 9 May 2004 — Islamist MPs have decided to file a request to quiz Kuwaiti Information Minister Mohammad Abolhassan about a concert by young stars of the Lebanese reality TV show “Star Academy,” a spokesman said yesterday.
“The Islamist Block met today and decided to file a request to grill the information minister within the next few days,” MP Faisal Al-Muslim told reporters after the meeting.
“This program (Star Academy) is silly and indecent. It promotes corrupt values that undermine the family and Islamic morals,” said Muslim.
The Islamic Block consists of about 15 lawmakers in the 50-member house and is comprised of MPs who belong to various Islamist political groupings in addition to independents.
The concert was held Thursday amid tight security as some 500 activists staged a demonstration outside the hall where the show was being staged.
According to organizers, the show attracted several thousand people, mostly teenagers.
The program, a copy of a French show of the same name, had female and male Arab teenagers living together ahead of a talent contest and was aired by Lebanon’s private satellite television LBCI.
Egypt’s Mohammed Attiya was elected the winner while Kuwaiti Bashar Al-Shatti was the runner-up. Shatti was given a hero’s welcome by thousands of young fans when he returned to Kuwait last month.
An Islamist activist Wednesday sued the government for allowing the concert to go ahead. A hearing has been set for May 17.
Kuwait remains a religiously conservative country, where alcohol and discos are banned.
After several years of banning public concerts, Kuwait has resumed granting permits for well-known Arab pop singers despite opposition from Islamist MPs.
If submitted, the questioning will be the third in the current Parliament which was elected last July.
Finance Minister Mahmud Al-Nuri narrowly escaped a vote of no-confidence in a similar questioning in March, while Health Minister Mohammad Al-Jarallah’s grilling last week failed to propose a no-confidence motion.
A debate on the quiz could lead to a no-confidence vote which, if passed, would mean the automatic dismissal of the minister.
Kuwait was plunged into a political crisis in 1999 after the questioning of then Justice Minister Ahmed Al-Kulaib that led to the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of fresh polls in July of that year.
