Expat Residency Law in the News During Critical Session

Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun has invited the government and MPs to the parliamentary session on Tuesday to discuss:

– Voting on the minutes of the previous session;

– Parliamentary queries;

– Amiri Speech delivered on Oct 31, 2023;

– Report of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee about the bills on reforming the constituencies, and amending the National Assembly Law and Penal Code number 16/1960;

– Report of the Interior and Defense Affairs Committee on the proposed amendment to the Foreigners Residency Law;

– Report of the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the armament deals (Eurofighter and Caracal helicopters);

– Report of the Oil and Energy Committee on the proposal to establish a national shareholding company for advanced petrochemical industries;

– Reports of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee on these proposals — amend the law on establishing the Public Institution for Social Security in order to grant zero interest loans to retirees, increase the cost of living allowance, transform Kuwait Airways Corporation into a shareholding national company, and exempt the heirs of those who obtained loans from Kuwait Credit Bank from paying the remaining installments in case of the death of the borrowers;

– Reports of the Interior and Defense Affairs Committee on the proposal to amend the Traffic and Police laws;

– Report of the Illegal Residents Affairs Committee about the bills on granting social, civil and career rights to Bedouns;

– Report of the Human Resources Development Committee on the proposed amendment to Civil Service Commission Law number 15/1979.

– Report of the Public Funds Protection Committee on the proposed amendment to the Public Funds Protection Law;

– Report of the Health, Social and Labor Affairs Committee on the proposed amendment to the Cooperative Societies Law;

– Report of the Family, Women and Children Affairs Committee on the proposal to grant rights to the children of Kuwaiti women married to non- Kuwaitis;

– Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the military cooperation treaty between Kuwait and Turkey; – Request of several MPs to discuss the strategic alternative to the salary scale with the government;

– Request to discuss the factors leading to price hikes;

– Request to discuss the procedures and criteria adopted to fill up vacant supervisory posts;

– Request to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the Dhaman Hospital issue and violations recorded by the State Audit Bureau.

In another development, MPs Mubarak Al-Tasha, Adel Al-Damkhi, Hamad Al-Obaid, Abdullah Fehad and Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi have submitted a bill on amending Personal Status Law number 51/1984, particularly Clause A of Article 189, such that the order of granting custody of the children in case of divorce shall be as follows: mother, grandmother (mother of the female spouse), father, aunt (sister of the female spouse), sister of the female spouse’s mother, sister of the female spouse’s father, grandmother of the father and father’s aunt.

The existing law puts the father in seventh place among the relatives who could be granted custody of the children in case of divorce. The lawmakers explained that their bill is aimed at correcting this, considering the essential role of the father in raising children.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Inter-Parliamentary Group MP Muhammad Al- Mahan has called on the parliaments of Islamic countries to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and to stop the genocide being committed by the Zionist entity against the Palestinians. He stressed the need to provide safe passages for the affected as a humanitarian gesture. Al-Mahan made the statement at the recent meeting of the Permanent Palestinian Committee in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hosted by the Iranian Parliament; during which he also called for confronting Israeli attacks and foiling attempts to displace the people in Gaza.

He stressed the need to file a case against the Israeli prime minister, and the political and military leaders, as they are war criminals. He stated that Israel and its supporter countries must respect international legitimacy. Treasurer of the group MP Hamad Al-Obaid and member MP Fahd bin Jamee attended the meeting as well.

Hamad Al- Matar, Undersecretary of the group, as well as MPs Dawoud Maarefi and Shuaib Shaaban, will attend the first meeting of the Palestine Committee at the Asian Parliaments Union. Furthermore, MP Fahd bin Jame’e enquired about the role of the National Council for Cybersecurity in protecting ministries' and other public institutions' websites, and how hackers can access important data through these websites. Sheikh Talal Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

In addition, he wishes to know the agreements or contracts the council has signed with local and international cybersecurity companies and individuals, the council's organizational structure, recruitment regulations, the number of its employees, their nationalities, qualifications, jobs, salaries and allowances, as well as if any of them have been appointed without publishing recruitment advertisements since the council was established until today. In addition, he asked Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi, acting Minister of Information, Endowments and Islamic Affairs, how many electronic newspapers and media services were licensed, how these entities were monitored, what measures have been taken against electronic media services without licenses, censorship regulations, and the number of violations since January 2020.

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