The amendments, passed in the first reading, also stipulate life-term for those who insult the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) companions, in a move to stiffen already-harsh penalties on religious offenses.
Forty-six MPs including all government ministers present voted for the amendments while four Shiite MPs opposed it, two Shiite lawmakers refused to vote and one Sunni MP who is close to Shiites abstained from voting.
The amendments need to be passed during the second round of voting, probably after two weeks and then was accepted by the government to become effective.
The passage of amendments came after strong exchanges between Sunni MPs, who were pushing the bill, and Shiite MPs some of whom insisted that their highly revered Imams must be included in the law.
Several other MPs called against hastily approving the law until it was agreed to pass the amendments in the first round of voting and delay the second round in a bid to give ample time to study proposed amendments.
Currently, Kuwait’s penal code stipulates hefty penalties including many years in jail for those who commit religious offenses, especially those related to Prophet Mohammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) wife and some of his companions.
Shiite MP Hussein Al-Qallaf strongly lambasted the manner in which the law was passed, describing the parliamentary majority as ‘exclusionists’ as they wanted to pass laws that only suit their wishes.
In another development, the National Assembly debated the issue of hundreds of Kuwaitis who were fired by their private sector companies since 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis.
Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali told the House that the government has been paying monthly assistance to more than 1,200 Kuwaiti employees, totalling to KD 0. 9 million.
He asked the National Assembly to speed up the draft law submitted by the government’s approval to introduce unemployment benefits to citizens who are dismissed by companies.
But the Assembly failed to vote on a host of recommendations, including one called to extend the period of current unemployment benefits paid to citizens until the issue has been totally resolved.
