Jaber keeps ship afloat

By Sherine Bahaa

Kuwait's 760,000 citizens, whose number is growing at a rate of 3.6 per cent a year, expect cushy government jobs the moment they graduate from university. Until now they have usually gotten them, but newspapers have begun carrying stories of college graduates unable to find work.

Amidst these changes, the Kuwaiti parliament was due to debate the 1998-99 budget, finalise laws on the privatisation of state utilities and vote on a new investment law aimed at attracting foreign capital. Although Kuwait is the only Gulf state that has an elected parliament, its behaviour is not always acceptable to the cabinet, headed by Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Saad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Debates are often cancelled for lack of a quorum or because of the absence of ministers during sessions in which they were due to be questioned. Meanwhile, bills on trade liberalisation are endlessly passed back and forth between the government and parliament.

"The role of MPs is to discuss bills which are submitted by the government, not to obstruct the cabinet's work," Sheikh Saad said in a recent statement, after parliament came close to being dissolved due to differences between its members and ministers, most of whom belong to the ruling family. Sheikh Saad has often accused the 50-seat legislature of blocking economic reforms and not showing his cabinet sufficient respect.

The latest crisis revolves around parliamentary motions to question ministers. This row, the third of its kind this year, began earlier this month when lawmaker Naser Al-Saneh threatened to grill Interior Minister Sheikh Mohamed Al-Sabah over what he termed inefficiency in fighting corruption, drugs and crime. "The interior minister's interrogation was the last straw," said Al-Saneh.

Differences have also emerged over repeated public questioning of state arms deals, with some MPs claiming that they are decided according to commissions to top officials rather than efficiency or price. Lawmakers have accused the government of wasting public funds and spending huge amounts of money to buy weapons that do not suit the needs of the Kuwaiti army.

However, the intervention of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Saturday and his separate meetings with both Sheikh Saad and parliament's speaker, succeeded in containing the incipient crisis. The two then met to discuss their differences and work out a more acceptable formula for future cooperation.

Previously, Sheikh Jaber has had to choose between dissolving parliament or accepting the government's resignation. On two earlier occasions, parliament was dissolved after its members had grown severely critical of government policies -- from 1976 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1992. According to Kuwait's constitution, only the emir has the power to dissolve parliament. Elections should then take place within the following two months.

Earlier this year, relations between parliament and Information Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser Al-Sabah also came to a head. MPs criticised Sheikh Saud for allowing the sale of books regarded as un-Islamic. Sheikh Saud was spared a no-confidence vote after Sheikh Saad announced the government's resignation and carried out a limited reshuffle. Sheikh Saud is now oil minister in the three-month-old cabinet, a move that has not been welcomed by MPs.

"I believe this is a violation of the constitution, and we fear that in the future any minister can just change portfolios to escape questioning by deputies," said MP Fahd Al-Khana.

Another dispute between the cabinet and parliament came in the wake of a reported feud between Sheikh Saad and his deputy, the emir's brother and veteran Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad. Sheikh Sabah presented his resignation after differing with Sheikh Saad over economic policies and the way Kuwait should handle its relations with the Arab countries which had supported Iraq's invasion.

Again, it was only after the emir's intervention that Sheikh Sabah withdrew his resignation and rejoined the government.