Newspaper articles on Parliament vote

Dear Readers: This is a follow-up to my previous blog entry. You may wish to read the previous blog first.


MPs pass 2 women rights bills, reject 3
Published Date: June 28, 2010 By B Izaak, Staff Writer
KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterday passed two draft laws for Kuwaiti women rights but rejected three others with the help from the government who later combined with its supporters to shoot down the law that calls for writing off interest on Kuwaiti loans. Angry over the turn of events, there were mixed reactions from various sections of MPs, but many of them criticized the government and 27 of them signed a statement calling against passing the 2010/2011 budget to force the extension of the current assembly term.The drama began as the government voted against five draft laws to enhance the civil and social rights for Kuwaiti women but two of them were passed and the three others failed to get the required number. Women MPs strongly criticized the government after the session with Asil Al-Awadhi and Rula Dashti insisting that they will resubmit the rejected laws for consideration.Government spokesman and Communications Minister Mohammad Al-Baseeri said that the government backs women rights but it was forced to oppose the laws because the government was not consulted before the concerned committees approved them. The first law passed on women rights amends the civil service law to grant Kuwaiti women the social allowance if their husbands do not get it.The law also provides Kuwaiti women employed in the government a 70 day maternity holiday which can be extended for a further two months with full pay. The holiday can also be extended for four more months with a half pay. The law allows the minister to grant Kuwaiti female employees with a long unpaid vacation for between six months and three years. Kuwaiti women employees are entitled for a daily two-hour reduction in working hours for breast feeding for two years.The second law changes the immigration law to grant children of Kuwaiti women from foreign husbands permanent residency and exempts them of residency fees and allows Kuwaiti women to sponsor their foreign husbands. The assembly however rejected a law calling to grant Kuwaiti housewives a monthly salary of KD 350. It also rejected two other laws, one exempting children of Kuwaiti women from a foreign husband of health insurance fees and another to provide them with free education.The assembly passed the two laws in the first reading but failed to force a second and final reading and accordingly all the laws will have to be studied again by the assembly in the next term starting late October. On the other issue, the assembly rejected with a 33 against 26 vote the law that calls for scrapping interest on bank loans obtained by Kuwaiti citizens.The law was passed by the national assembly several months ago. The government rejected the law and sent it back to the assembly. To override the government rejection and make the law mandatory, MPs had two options: either vote on it during this term but with a two-thirds majority, or wait until next term to re-pass it only with a simple majority. Supporters of the law knew that they will not get the magical two-third majority of 44 votes and were banking on the next term.But speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi stunned them when he announced that since the law did not get the simple majority of the vote it will be taken off of the agenda which means it will not stay for another vote in the next term. Khorafi said his decision was based on the internal charter but veteran MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun and several other lawmakers disputed Khorafi's conclusion and insisted they will still have the right to have another vote on it next term.However, Baseeri appealed to MPs to pass amendments on the government sponsored defaulters fund which is scheduled to take place today. The defaulters fund is the government answer for the law to scrap interest. The fund, which is expected to have a capital of as high as KD 1 billion, will provide assistance only to Kuwaiti debtors who are unable to repay their debt.Meanwhile, the statement signed by the 27 MPs urged other lawmakers not to pass the state budget unless the assembly had debated and passed a number of highly important bills and issues. Under Kuwaiti law, the assembly term cannot be ended before passing the state budget and delaying the action would automatically mean extending the current term.
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MPss accuse government of purposely failing women's laws under excuse of cost


Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Women's Affairs MP Masouma Al-Mubarak (left) and MP Aseel Al-Awadhi (right) vote at the Parliament on Sunday, June 27, 2010. (Source:Al Watan)
Tuesday,29 June 2010



KUWAIT: Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Women's Affairs and members of the committee criticized the passive role of the government regarding women's laws. MPs Masouma Al-Mubarak, Aseel Al-Awadhi and Salwa Al-Jassar asserted that the government "purposely failed" during the voting process under the pretext of high financial cost and lack of studies even though the government spends large sums of money on foreign donations and grants. They threatened the government that they will follow strict policies in the future.Al-Mubarak said that Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis have been deprived of social allowance for many years, while Al-Awadhi mentioned that the Parliament approved two out of five reports submitted by the committee during the first round of deliberations, and accused the government of attending the parliamentary session without being prepared. She said it was evident from the fact that the Government's Official Spokesperson Mohammed Al-Busairi discussed the social insurance bill, although it was not on the agenda. She accused the government of being "reckless", and warned the government that the female MPs will follow strict policies in response to what the government had done. She went on to criticize the government by saying that the government "had failed, over the course of one year, to provide the committee with detailed answers to its questions."MP Al-Jassar thanked the MPs who supported women's bill during Sunday's session, and also thanked the committee for its efforts to reach a final draft for the bill. She explained that the women embody the concept of national unity because they succeeded in bringing together the votes of male MPs, and noted that the approval of the women's bill during the first round of deliberations highlights the Parliament's achievements. She added that an opportunity is available during the summer to reach a unified vision during the coming round of deliberations.Moreover, MP Musallam Al-Barrak attacked the government and accused it of not being serious or fair to women married to non-Kuwaitis, since they have rights to receive medical treatment, education, and employment rights as well. He described the government as "bold", and revealed that the government rejected all 23 proposals without making any proposals regarding that matter, while spending 500 million US dollars to support small projects in the Arab countries, after all the MPs, except MP Dhaifallah Buramiah, approved that matter.