Kuwaiti parliament speaker receives audit bureau report

Responding to public calls for probing any alleged fraud, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim received on Sunday the report of the State Audit Bureau (SAB).
The report includes seven graft charges raised to SAB by five citizens, Al-Ghanim told the press at the National Assembly.
On June 11, the Assembly tasked SAB with receiving any documents or reports by the citizens on the issues raised at the legislature a day earlier or any claims of fraud or corruption.
"None of the charges casts doubt on the integrity of the judiciary or has anything to do with the deliberations of the June 10 session," Al-Ghanim said.
"In its report, SAB noted that the seven charges are irrelevant to subjects outlined in the parliamentary mandate.
"Nevertheless, the report will be available to the MPs and the public in detail," he said, ruling out the possibility of seeking help of a foreign auditing agency instead of the official SAB.
"The National Assembly will convene on November 20 to debate SAB reports on the balance sheets of state bodies, which will represent a quantum leap in terms of accountability and the popular supervision on public spending," Al-Ghanim stressed.
He expressed hope for activating the popular supervision over the performance of the government through meticulous probes into SAB reports.
He also called on the government to brace for responding to MPs' questions and specify a mechanism at each ministry for addressing any irregularity.
Al-Ghanim added that the Assembly's secretariat met with head of the parliamentary priorities' team MP Dr. Youssef Al-Zalzalah in preparation for the session of November 20.