FRANCE PRESS

KUWAIT CITY: OPEC member Kuwait is bracing for a major political showdown over a graft scandal involving MPs as the opposition mounts a campaign to oust the prime minister.
Liberal, nationalist and Islamist opposition groups have united after allegations that pro-government MPs accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, with fingers pointed at the government as the source of the money.

The judiciary in the wealthy Gulf state has launched an unprecedented probe into the bank accounts of at least 14 members of the 50-seat parliament, and their number is likely to grow.
Veteran opposition figure Ahmad al-Saadun has said suspected MPs may have received more than $350 million in illegal deposits over the past few weeks.

Opposition MPs, demanding a transparent investigation, plan to file a request next week to question in parliament Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family and the ruler’s nephew.
“The multi-million-dinar scandal is a direct result of Sheikh Nasser remaining at the helm,” opposition MP Khaled al-Tahus told a public gathering Monday.

MP Mussallam al-Barrak said the alleged payments coincided with parliamentary grillings of senior ministers.
“In this tense situation, a fierce battle is highly expected to take place [between government and opposition], disrupting the country’s interests in the midst of the global financial crisis and unprecedented regional political turmoil,” Al-Shall Economic Consultants said in a report this week.

Al-Shall called for a decision to change the government and its head to “avert an inevitable angry battle [in parliament] that may extend to the street.”
But political analyst Nasser al-Abdali believes the current campaign will not topple the government or change the prime minister.

“I believe a decision of this nature is not expected … the status quo will be maintained,” said Abdali, who heads the independent Kuwait Society for the Advancement of Democracy.
“So far, the opposition has no evidence to link the bribes with either the prime minister or the government … and even if they quiz the premier, they are not expected to unseat him,” Abdali said.

Under Kuwaiti law, the ruler has the sole authority to appoint or dismiss the prime minister.
Kuwait has been rocked by a series of political disputes since Sheikh Nasser became premier in 2006. The parliament has since been dissolved three times and the Cabinet has stepped down on six occasions.
Opposition groups have been holding almost daily gatherings to mobilize the Kuwaiti public against corruption. A mass rally is planned for Wednesday.

“The issue requires continued work until the downfall of the government and corruption elements that have destroyed the country,” Saadun said Monday. “I swear that the country is in danger and sliding … MPs who support toppling the prime minister have now become a majority.”

The government has countered the opposition campaign by hurriedly pushing through a string of anti-corruption legislation that had been stalled for more than a decade.
It promised to submit to parliament this week draft laws on wealth disclosure, integrity and setting up an authority for combating corruption.