National Assembly Speaker Ali Al-Rashed meanwhile said the government will attend today’s session which could discuss the interior minister grilling, while after a lengthy meeting, opposition ex-MPs declared they have decided to boycott any future election if the constitutional court confirms the controversial amendment to the electoral law.
The ruling by the appeals court nullified the verdict against Barrak by the criminal court, saying the trial proceedings were illegal. But the appeals court did not send the case back to the criminal court and decided to conduct the retrial itself.
The court also agreed to hear the testimonies of the witnesses demanded by Barrak’s legal team and denied by the lower court and who include Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, but it was not immediately known if the premier will actually be summoned to testify. The appeals court set June 9 for the first hearing in order to inform the witnesses.
Barrak was handed the harsh sentence last month by the criminal court even after his lawyers had walked out of the trial in protest against the judge’s refusal to summon a number of witnesses, including the prime minister.
The criminal court jailed the former opposition lawmaker on charges of insulting HH the Amir during a speech at a public rally on Oct 15. The appeals court also reduced a two-year jail term against opposition tweeter Rashed Al-Enezi to 20 months on charges he insulted the Amir on Twitter.
Enezi has been in jail since January and he still has the right to challenge the ruling in the cassation court. Enezi is also on trial in two other similar cases.
The court also confirmed a two-year jail term against tweeter Jamal Al-Dhawi but ordered the sentence to be suspended for three years.
Opposition activists expressed anger against the rulings against Enezi and a large number of other tweeters and called for a gathering late yesterday in the heart of Kuwait City.
In addition, the appeals court upheld the conviction of former pro-government MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel for insulting the Mutairi tribe but increased his jail term from three months to eight months. Juwaihel has been in jail for about a month.
In a related development, about 30 former opposition MPs said yesterday that they will boycott any future elections under the controversial amendment of the electoral law that triggered the current political standoff in the country.
Speaking on their behalf following a lengthy meeting that continued until the early hours of yesterday, former MP Faisal Al-Mislem said that the former lawmakers agreed that they will not contest any election under the amended law even if the constitutional court confirms it.
Last October, the government amended the electoral law to reduce the number of candidates a voter can pick from four to just one and as a result, the opposition boycotted the December polls.
Mislem said the opposition will contest parliamentary polls only if the elections are held on the basis of the original electoral law issued in 2006.
Meanwhile, an Amiri decree was issued yesterday accepting the resignation of oil minister Hussein who resigned apparently to avoid a grilling over his alleged role in the payment of the huge penalty to Dow and over other alleged irregularities.
State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said a second Amiri decree was issued appointing Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali as acting oil minister.
Hussein had been in the post for just over 15 months as he was appointed to the Cabinet formed following the Feb 2, 2012 elections. He was retained in the Cabinet formed following the Dec 2012 elections.
Barely one week before quitting, Hussein made the biggest shakeup in the history of oil sector that included the removal of a number of senior executives from Kuwait Petroleum Corp and the top managers of the eight subsidiaries.
The resignation will certainly spare the minister of having to face the grilling filed by three MPs which was scheduled to be debated in today’s session. A number of MPs however vowed that they will press for legal action against Hussein even after his resignation.
MP Yacoub Al-Sane, one of the three lawmakers who filed to grill him, said Hussein remains responsible legally for the payment of the Dow penalty and action must be taken against him and other officials. MP Safa Al-Hashem strongly criticized the minister’s reshuffle of the oil sector and said MPs will take action to rectify the situation.
Earlier yesterday, Al-Qabas newspaper quoted Hussein as saying he hopes “the new oil minister will provide the political cover for the massive change” introduced to the oil sector last week.
“I am comfortable by all standards, I have performed my duties… I hope the oil sector will be relieved of political pressures,” he told the newspaper.
SpeakerRashed said the government will attend today’s session after boycotting the sessions on May 14 and 15 in protest against the filing of two grillings against the oil and interior ministers.
Asked if the Assembly will approve an expected government request to delay the grilling of the interior minister, Rashed said the Assembly will deal with any request within the framework of the constitution.
Rashed’s comments came amid reports that the debate of the interior minister’s grilling will most likely be postponed until after the crucial ruling of the constitutional court on June 16.
