Regarding Law No. 78/2019 about phony academic credentials, MP Hamad Al-Elyan has sent inquiries to Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Scientific Research Adel Al-Manea. He is curious as to why, more than four years after the law was approved and published in the Kuwait Gazette, the executive regulations for it have not yet been released. He emphasized that since the law forbids the accrediting of certificates that are not similar, it is one approach to address the issue of phony academic credentials. Inquiries included whether the law is suspended, the detrimental effects on the labor market in the event that the answer is yes, and the actions made to encourage the release of the executive rules pertaining to the law.

MP Hassan Jawhar asked Minister of Justice and State Minister for Housing Affairs Faleh Al-Raqaba about the target date for issuing the executive regulations of Law No. 118/2023 on housing and the establishment of new residential areas. He said the law was published in Kuwait Gazette on Aug 27, 2023 and Article 39 of the law stipulates the issuance of the executive regulations within three months upon the official publication. He inquired if the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has specified the locations for the new residential areas as per the law, details about the specified places, and target completion date for each residential area.

Last Day
In addition, Jawhar questioned whether the Higher Election Commission was established in accordance with Law No. 120/2023’s Article Two, which stated that the executive must be issued no later than six months following the official publication. He said that the law was issued more than three months ago and that Article Two requires the minister to appoint five Kuwaiti judges from the Court of Appeals or the Court of Cassation to serve as members of the Higher Election Commission board. He referred to the law’s Article 66, which requires the Higher Election Commission to release the executive regulations no later than six months following their official release.

In order for Article 66 to be enforced, which requires the commission to issue the executive regulations, he wants to know if the board was established in accordance with Article Two. Subsequently, he underscored the significance of the Election Law in executing political restructuring and ensuring impartial elections. The procedures followed for the appointment of the secretary-general and assistant secretary general at the authority, copies of decisions regarding their appointment issued in fiscal 2022/2023, whether the Board of Trustees approved their appointment in accordance with the law, the conditions for the renewal of their term, the entity tasked with assessing their performance, and the reasoning behind the chairman’s decision were among the questions MP Shuaib Shaaban posed to Al-Raqaba.

Regarding the housing issue, Shaaban asked about the projects that are currently having problems, the list of contractors that are involved, the total amount of fines levied against contractors who have delayed project implementation from 2000 to the present, and the quantity and number of variation orders that have been issued for each project, if any. He questioned Health Minister Ahmed Al-Awadhi about the claim that an overseas employee stole KD15 million from the overseas treatment budget by falsifying hotel receipts for Kuwaiti patients booked in Europe. He also inquired about the timing of the crime’s discovery, the date the case was referred to the Public Prosecution, the length of time the accused official stole public funds by submitting fictitious receipts, and the method the accused official used to steal public funds.

The lawmaker requested a list of public profit organizations, societies, and charities that have licenses from the ministry, along with information about the members of each entity’s board of directors, the number of cooperative societies, and the date of each cooperative’s most recent General Assembly. The minister of social affairs and state minister for family, women, and children affairs, Sheikh Feras Al-Sabah, was given this request. He requested the list of Kuwaiti cultural attaché offices, the number of employees in each office, their nationalities, qualifications, and experience, the recruitment process, and copies of job advertisements for staff in each overseas cultural attaché office from 2018 to the present from Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Scientific Research Adel Al-Manea. He enquired of Finance Minister Fahd Al-Jarallah.