1 - 7 February 2001
Issue No.519
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 February 2001 Issue No.519 |
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Yet another cabinet
KUWAITIS are watching closely the outcome of yet another crisis in relations between the cabinet -- headed for the past 22 years by Crown Prince Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah -- and parliament, which has a strong Islamic and leftist opposition presence, Sherine Bahaa reports.
One day after opposition MP Hussein Qallaf announced his intention to question the justice minister over alleged cases of corruption, Sheikh Saad on Sun-ay fell back on a tried and true formula he has adopted in re-ent years whenever facing a similar crisis: offering his cab-net's resignation.
The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, accepted the cabinet's resignation, but asked his 72-year-old crown-prince to take care of ur-ent matters until a new cabinet was appointed. On previous oc-asions in which Sheikh Saad resigned as prime minister, he was asked to re-form the cab-net after making minor chang-s, sometimes limited to re-lacing just one minister. Sheikh Saad, in his letter of res-gnation, refrained from explaining his decision except by citing "obstacles that impeded the cabinet from carrying out its duties." The cabinet was ap-ointed following the July 1999 parliamentary elections.
Though parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorrafi asserted that the cabinet's resignation was not related to the grilling of the justice minister, many ob-ervers believe it was the final straw in tense relations between the parliament and the govern-ent.
Columnist and analyst Ayed Al-Mannah said the questioning could uncover serious issues.
The nature of the new cab-net became the core of daily discussions among Kuwaitis in their "diwaniyas," or sessions, held at the homes of prominent figures to tackle issues of concern to the public. The repeated resignations of Sheikh Saad also renewed calls for separating the post of the prime minister from that of crown prince. A split between the posts "is our demand as a matter of principle," liberal lawmaker Abdullah Al-Nibari told Reuters.
Nibari said the country was suffering from "paralysis" and needed a Cabinet that could co-operate with the legislature.
Kuwaiti newspapers have also been reporting that although Sheikh Saad was likely to be asked to form the cabinet -- considering the sensitivities within Al-Sabah's ruling family -- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed was expected to play a more crucial role in naming its members. Aside from his thorny relations with the parlia-ent, Sheikh Saad has been undergoing regular medical treat-ent in Europe and the United States in recent years. "The latest developments concerning his medical condition could hinder his ability to continue as head of the government," Nibari added.
Convincing Barak
LEADER of Hizbullah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says his group will take more Israeli hostages if Israel does not accept its con-itions to swap four captured Is-aelis for Arab prisoners.
"I tell [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Barak that if you refuse our just and fair conditions, and if you want to convince us that the soldiers we are holding are not sufficient to release the pris-ners, then we will have to work anew to take more of your soldiers and officers hostage," Nasrallah told a cheering audi-nce at a conference in Beirut to highlight the Arab and Islamic status of Jerusalem.
The Lebanese Hizbullah group, whose guerrilla war drove Israel to end its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in May 2000, snatched three Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in October. A few weeks later it captured a military intelligence reservist and has been holding the four incommunicado ever since.
Nasrallah, who last month revealed that he was conducting German-mediated talks with Is-ael on the prisoner exchange, confirmed that he would release the hostages once Israel freed all Lebanese and Arab detainees and returned the remains of guerrillas killed during its occupation of south Lebanon.
The Hizbullah leader has also said he wants Israel to give Lebanon maps of minefields it planted in the south and to provide information on the fate of Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas who went missing during Israeli invasions of Lebanon.
Prominent political figures attending the conference included members of the radical Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Yemeni parliament Speaker Abdullah Bin Issa Al-Ahmar, and former Iranian Interior Minister Ali Akbar Moh-ashemi.
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