IPT IO N SC R SU B
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
14
7
Pakistan lawmakers elect Ashraf as PM
150 Fils
Syrian troops slay 10 protesters in Aleppo
No: 15487
SHAABAN 3, 1433 AH
48
4-star Germans reach Euro semis
Kuwait MPs push for elected government Lawmakers demand ‘full parliamentary system’
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti members of parliament have called for a “full parliamentary system”, local media said yesterday, raising the stakes in a standoff with the government dominated by the ruling Al-Sabah family. “Constitutional amendments reaching to a full parliamentary system have become an inescapable necessity in order to prevent the authorities from meddling in the will of the nation,” said a statement on the online www.alaan.cc news website. The website listed 35 members of the Islamist-led parliament as signatories to the statement, which came after lengthy meetings in Kuwait City. MPs have been pushing for an elected government to loosen the Al-Sabah family’s grip on power in the OPEC member state, where thousands of US troops are stationed. Despite having one of the more vibrant parliaments in the Gulf region, the Amir appoints the prime minister, usually from the ruling family, and has the final say on state affairs. Kuwaiti MPs have also said that more than half of the 50-member parliamentarians are resigning their posts - effectively checking a constitutional court ruling this week which annulled elections held in February and reinstated a parliament installed in 2009. The court ruling on Wednesday added to political turmoil by
attempting to reinstate a less confrontational parliament installed in 2009. But this would become impossible to achieve if MPs refused to sit in the assembly. Ahmed Al-Saadoun, speaker of the assembly elected in February, warned against allowing the 2009 parliament to convene. “Constitutional reforms are now due, and it is not an issue of a parliament that gets dissolved, because this council may be replaced by a better one. It is the issue of the stability of our democratic system,” he said. The latest crisis was the culmination of tensions between parliament and the government over calls by MPs to grill ministers over the conduct of their ministries. Members of the cabinet are usually chosen from outside parliament, with only one seat allocated to a member of the assembly. Opposition lawmakers have been demanding that nine seats on the cabinet be allocated to parliament members, a move that could make the government more accountable to the assembly. Kuwaiti media have said the opposition had been offered only four posts. Kuwait’s oil wealth and a generous welfare state had helped it avoid the “Arab Spring” protests seen elsewhere in the region. But sporadic protests have taken place in recent months. — Reuters
Max 48º Min 30º
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammed Al Abdullah Al Sabah, Jamal Al Shihab and Salem Al Hutheina Sheikh pictured as Sheikh Mohammed talks to journalists in Kuwait City. The minister said that the government has not yet moved to enforce a recent court decision dissolving parliament as it was not published in the Official Gazete. — AP
Egypt army talks tough amid protests CAIRO: Egypt’s military rulers dismissed complaints from protesters yesterday that it was entrenching its rule and blamed the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate for stirring up emotions that drew thousands onto Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The Islamist candidate, Mohamed Morsy, shot back that the generals were defying the democratic will of the people and said protests would go on. But he stopped short of repeating a claim to have won last weekend’s election, urging simply a rapid announcement of the result, and praised the army as “patriotic”. In a brusque four-minute statement read on state television as Egyptians returned from weekly prayers - and as the revolutionary bastion of Tahrir was chanting for democracy - the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) made clear it had no plan to heed calls to cancel a decree extending its powers or reverse its dissolution of the new, Islamist-led parliament. “The issuance of the supplementary constitutional decree was necessitated by the needs of
administering the affairs of the state during this critical period in the history of our nation,” the off-screen announcer said, in the bureaucratic language favored by the generals who pushed aside brother officer Hosni Mubarak last year to appease the angry millions on the streets. In what were menacing tones for the army’s old adversary the Muslim Brotherhood, SCAF said people were free to protest - but only if they did not disrupt daily life. At Tahrir, the broad traffic interchange by the Nile in central Cairo was filled with makeshift tents offering shade from the midday sun, hawkers offering an array of goods from tea to “I Love Tahrir Square” T-shirts. Many knelt in prayer during the weekly service. Large groups of pious Islamists were bussed in from the provinces by their parties. The crowd chanted and waved Egyptian flags. The deadlock between Egypt’s two strongest forces raised grave doubts on the prospects for consensual democracy, though
some see possible compromise, if Morsy does become president. The SCAF statement read: “Anticipating the announcement of the presidential election results before they are announced officially is unjustifiable, and is one of the main causes of division and confusion prevailing the political arena.” It also said the army had no power to repeal the dissolution of parliament, saying that was down to judges who ruled some of January’s election rules unconstitutional. Critics say the judges were appointed under Mubarak and are not impartial. The Brotherhood is mounting protest vigils on town squares to demand the reversal of the decree and the dissolution. It also fears a delay in announcing the result of the presidential election indicates an attempt to cheat - though opponents say it is the Islamists who are not playing fair. Morsy and former general Ahmed Shafik both say they believe they won the runoff ballot. But it is Morsy’s declaration of victory within hours of polls closing - far more than
Shafik’s later, more cautious statements - which has driven debate about underhand tactics in a country long used to vote-rigging. The delay in publication of results, due on Thursday but not now expected until at least Saturday, has heightened anxiety on all sides, although all sides say they will protest peacefully. Morsy told a news conference he would continue to reject SCAF’s decree, which was issued as polls closed on Sunday, two days after the constitutional court gave the military grounds to dissolve parliament: “The constitutional declaration clearly implies attempts by the military council to restrict the incoming president,” he said. “This we totally reject.” But with no obvious resolution in sight to the stand-off, Morsy also made conciliatory references to the army: “There is no problem between us and our patriotic armed forces,” he said. “We do not agree to the issuing of the constitutional decree and neither do the people. Why do we need a supplementary declaration when we are going to draft a new constitution?” — Reuters