Assembly recessed for three weeks following the absence of the governmentSpeaker of the National Assembly Ahmad Al-Saadoun adjourned the Assembly’s regular session for a second time on Tuesday, this time for three weeks, due to the absence of a new Cabinet following the resignation of the previous one. MP Dawood Maarafi objected to the cancellation as Saadoun declared in the chamber that he had received notification from the departing government that no minister would be present and that he was calling off the session. Next sessions, according to Saadoun, are scheduled for February 6 and 7.

For the past sixty years, Kuwaiti law and custom have required the presence of a minimum of one Cabinet minister in order to call a session of the National Assembly. But Maarafi and a number of other MPs argue that sessions

HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah submitted his government’s resignation on Dec 20 immediately after the new Amir HH Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah took the constitutional oath in the Assembly to assume his constitutional powers following the demise of former Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Afterwards, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, a former foreign minister, was appointed by HH Sheikh Mishal to head the new Cabinet. He has not yet given HH the Amir his Cabinet lineup.

On Tuesday, the General Secretariat of the National Assembly refuted rumors that Prime Minister-designate Sheikh Dr. Mohammad was the subject of parliamentary questions, affirming that all inquiries were directed towards the resigned government. In a press release, the secretariat stated that it was not feasible to

A Kuwaiti national who claimed to have been unlawfully detained and subjected to physical torture by the defense ministry has had his torture case heard by the panel concluded, according to MP Mohammad Hayef, the head of the Assembly’s human rights committee, on Tuesday. According to Hayef, the panel heard testimony from Turki Al-Enezi, the citizen, as well as the chairman and members of the investigation committee that the defense minister had established to look into the matter.

The committee also heard testimony from several military commanders who had a direct connection to the case of torture. MP Marzouq Al-Ghanem first brought attention to the case when he questioned Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. According to Hayef, the committee requested an extension from the National Assembly so that it could finish preparing the report. Since the Assembly hasn’t convened in more than a month, the decision to grant the request is not anticipated to be made until the following regularly scheduled session- KT