Kuwait goverment shuns parliament after grilling bid

Kuwait's government boycotted a parliament session on Tuesday after MPs filed requests to grill the oil and interior ministers over alleged violations, including a $2.2 billion penalty payment to US Dow Chemical. "Due to the absence of cabinet ministers and as I was informed the government will not attend, I adjourn the parliament session until Wednesday," speaker Ali al-Rashed told those MPs present in the chamber. Under Kuwaiti law, parliament sessions are illegal without the presence of at least one cabinet minister. The government move came amid local media reports that Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was expected to invoke a clause in the constitution that allows him to suspend parliament for one month. The one-month break will take the oil-rich Gulf emirate, which has been embroiled in a bitter political crisis for a year, to a decisive ruling by the constitutional court on June 16 regarding the controversy over the amendment of the electoral law. The court will rule whether the amendment, which was ordered by the emir last year, is in line with the constitution and could order parliament dissolved for the second time in one year. Opposition groups insisted the amendment was illegal and accordingly boycotted the December 1 polls that elected a parliament seen very loyal to the government. Islamist MP Khaled al-Shulaimi strongly lashed out at the government boycott. "Parliament has been very cooperative for five months ... and today's boycott is a proof that the problem has always been with the government, even in previous parliaments," Shulaimi told reporters. The government is headed by a senior member of the Al-Sabah ruling family whose members also occupy the key posts of interior, defence, foreign affairs, information and state minister for cabinet affairs. MP Shulaimi also said the government wants to prevent the questioning of a suspicious move to pay the penalty to Dow Chemical which is a "real financial and economic catastrophe." Last week, state-owned Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC) said it had reached a final settlement with Dow Chemical to pay the US giant about $2.2 billion (1.7 billion euros). The US firm said it has received the payment, a move that caused a storm of criticism in the OPEC member state where Dow has a multi-billion-dollar joint petrochemicals project. The government boycott however cannot stop the grillings from being debated in parliament but can delay them. If debated, they might lead to no-confidence votes that may oust the ministers in this major oil-producing emirate. They would also be the first such grillings under the pro-government parliament .