Haider, a close associate of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was summoned by the bank deposits probe committee after his name was mentioned during previous sessions of the parliamentary panel.
The panel was formed two months ago to probe allegations that accounts of 13 former MPs received huge cash deposits in a short period of time and opposition MPs had alleged that the money was political bribes to buy their votes on crucial issues.
Former Islamist MP Mubarak Al-Duwailah also did not turn up but informed the panel that he will be coming to the next meeting. The committee, headed by opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak, however met the chairmen and CEOs of a number of local banks to inquire about the inflated accounts of the former politicians.
Former premier Sheikh Nasser was scheduled to attend today the meeting of a parliamentary panel probing the allegations that he transferred millions of public funds into his private bank accounts overseas. But Sheikh Nasser left the country yesterday for Britain to represent HH the Amir in the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Head of the panel MP Faisal Al-Mislem has already made landmark visits to the foreign ministry and the prime minister’s office to collect documents about the alleged graft.
Barrak ans Mislem are expected to make unprecedented visits to the Central Bank to collect more information about the two investigations.
Mislem has said that the committee collected important information that would considerably help the investigation while opposition MP Khaled Al-Sultan said the information the panel had gathered is very important and will have huge consequences.
The new developments come after the special ministers’ trial tribunal last week decided to close the probe into the alleged money transfers after it failed to gather sufficient evidence to press charges against the former premier.
The tribunal had opened the investigation on the basis of a complaint filed by lawyer Nawaf Al-Fuzai, who later said that he based his complaint on statements made by MP Barrak. Barrak charged in a statement yesterday that the complaint was in a suspicious and pre-arranged way without providing the tribunal with any solid information.
He said he testified before the tribunal twice and provided them with solid evidence and documents to prove that the transfers were made by the former premier into his personal bank accounts and that the money was not used for any public interests, but the tribunal did not take the information into account.
He added that the tribunal did not heard the key testimonies of the former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah nor that of former acting foreign minister and current MP Ali Al-Rashed although hearing their testimony is very crucial to the case.
In another developing issue, MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel denied yesterday that he spat at Islamist opposition MP Hamad Al-Matar on Thursday, a move that forced the Assembly to bar him from attending sessions or meetings of committees.
It was initially thought that the assembly had also barred Juwaihel from entering the Assembly building but he arrived yesterday and went to his office and later addressed a press conference. Holding a copy of the Holy Quran, Juwaihel also denied he was drunk when the incident happened.
But he acknowledged that he told MP Matar that those who objected to him holding a banner reading “Kuwait for Kuwaitis only” deserve to be spat at. Matar had claimed that on top of spitting, Juwaihel had made vulgur gestures and directed strong verbal insults against him.
Rapporteur of the legal and legislative committee MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said that the panel received a letter from the speaker to consider the legal viewpoint of the Assembly to take further action against Juwaihel, especially of a decision to ask authorities to examine the alcohol level in his blood. He said the committee asked its legal experts to study the issue from an entirely legal point of view.
