Kuwait heading for new political crisis

Published March 1st, 2009 - 02:51 GMT

Kuwait on Sunday has headed for a new political crisis after an opposition lawmaker filed to quiz the prime minister over allegations of misuse of public funds. Islamist MP Faisal al-Muslim alleges that the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah misappropriated the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars in the run-up to last year's general election.

 

"The error is very grave and cannot be overlooked. It is related to the top executive official in the country and also to public funds," Muslim said, according to AFP. Two other parliamentary groups have vowed to file separate requests to question the premier.

 

The Islamic Constitutional Movement, political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it will file on Monday a request to question the premier over his role in a scrapped deal with US firm Dow Chemical. The opposition Popular Action Bloc also threatened to quiz Sheikh Nasser if the government ignores its amendments to a multi-billion dollar stimulus bill to shore up the emirate's financial system because of the global downturn.

 

Two requests to question the prime minister were filed in the past, and both led to crises after he refused to be quizzed.