KUWAIT CITY: Two Kuwaiti opposition MPs on Tuesday filed to question in parliament the deputy prime minister for economic affairs over alleged corruption involving around $900 million (633 million euros).
The request to question Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah, also minister of housing and development, was filed by MPs Marzouk Al-Ghanem and Adel Al-Saraawi, members of the liberal six-MP National Action Bloc.
Ghanem told reporters the request is based on "financial irregularities in housing contracts, facilitating seizure of public funds and violating the four-year development plan," which stipulates the spending of more than $100 billion.
The 42-page request, obtained by AFP, charges that Sheikh Ahmad is responsible for adopting flawed procedures in awarding four major housing contracts in the past fiscal year, squandering $250 million of public funds.
It also alleges that a plot of land granted by the state to build the headquarters for the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), of which Sheikh Ahmad is the head, was instead turned into an investment project at a cost to the public purse of around $650 million.
Kuwait has been home to the OCA since it was founded about three decades ago and Sheikh Ahmad has been its chairman for the past two decades.
The two MPs also hold Sheikh Ahmad responsible for failure to implement the four-year plan, passed in parliament more than a year ago and envisages spending 30 billion dinars ($108 billion, 76 billion euros) until 2014.
There was no immediate comment by Sheikh Ahmad on the allegations.
Being the deputy premier for economic affairs and minister of development, Sheikh Ahmad has been directly responsible for preparing and implementing the plan that lists a number of multi-billion-dollar projects.
The lawmakers alleged that Sheikh Ahmad has misled parliament and the people about the progress of the plan, which has been very slow.
Sheikh Ahmad, a senior member of the Al-Sabah ruling family, is also
accused of "working to get Kuwait sports federations suspended by the international bodies," which undermined the status and image of the country, Ghanem said.
MP Saraawi said a debate about the questioning will take place on April 5 and that it is backed by the entire National Action Bloc and a number of other opposition lawmakers.
He said they will submit 200 documents as a proof for the alleged corruption charges and violations.
The quiz could lead to a no-confidence motion, which, if passed, would automatically dismiss the minister. To pass, such a motion needs a simple majority of the 50-member parliament.
Other opposition MPs are also planning to grill Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah over allegations of squandering public funds and not sending troops to Bahrain as part of the Gulf force to help the regime against Shia-led protests.
