Kuwaiti MPs Safaa Al Hashem (right), and Yussef Al Zalzalah (left) with an unidentified man after filing a request to grill Kuwaiti first Debuty Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Hmoud Al Sabah to parliament’s General Secretary Allam Al Kandari at the National Assembly in Kuwait City, yesterday.
KUWAIT CITY: Three Kuwaiti lawmakers yesterday requested to question Oil Minister Hani Hussein over the payment of a $2.2bn penalty to Dow Chemical after the emirate pulled out of a deal with the US firm.
Saadun Hammad, Nasser Al Marri and Yacoub Al Sane also charged the minister had allowed deals with Israel, as well as approved liquor sales at Kuwait-owned petrol stations in Europe and illegal staff promotions.
Last week, state-owned Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC) said it had reached a final settlement with Dow Chemical to pay the US giant about $2.2bn.
The US firm said it has received the payment, a move that caused a storm of criticism in the oil-rich Gulf state where Dow has a multi-billion-dollar joint petrochemicals project.
Two other MPs, meanwhile, filed a second request to question Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Humoud Al Sabah, a ruling family member, for allegedly “attempting to cover up a Kuwaiti terror cell” having links with a similar cell on trial in the United Arab Emirates.
MPs Safa Al Hashem and Yussef Al Zalzalah alleged the minister refused to supply information demanded by UAE authorities on Kuwaitis accused of helping UAE Islamists on trial for allegedly plotting to topple the government.
The requests could be debated after two weeks as per the parliament charter.
If debated, they might lead to no-confidence votes that may oust the ministers in this major oil-producing emirate.
They would also be the first such grillings under the pro-government parliament elected in December amid a bitter political crisis and a total opposition boycott.
The requests came a day after speaker Ali Al Rashed said a “six-month moratorium” declared by parliament on grillings was over.
In the first grilling, the three MPs charged that the oil minister squandered public funds by accepting a hefty penalty for pulling out of the deal and then paying the fine without defending Kuwait’s rights or negotiating with Dow Chemical.
They said the minister took no action against officials responsible for the huge loss and thus he should take full responsibility.
They accused the minister of failing to pull out of an investment in Europe after an Israeli firm bought a stake in it, thus violating Arab boycott laws against the Jewish state.
Last May, the International Chamber of Commerce, acting as an arbitrator, granted Dow Chemical around $2.2bn in compensation for Kuwait withdrawing from a $17.4bn joint petrochemicals project.
In December 2008, the Kuwaiti government scrapped the deal after pressure from opposition MPs, citing the global financial crisis.
A number of MPs and activists have strongly criticised the government, and particularly the oil minister, for paying the huge fine without consulting parliament.
The parliament elected last December has asked its public funds protection panel to investigate the implications of signing and then cancelling the deal with Dow.
AFP
