Outspoken opposition MP Mussallam Al-Barrak said the number of the opposition bloc has increased to 21 after MPs Hussein Mazyed and Hassan Jowhar yesterday resigned from the National Assembly committees they were elected to last week.
MP Faisal Al-Muslim said that Mazyed informed him that he has joined the opposition and from now on he will participate in its meetings, adding that the "death certificate" of the government will be written soon. The new developments came after a late Saturday night meeting of 19 opposition MPs at the Diwaniya of MP Mohammad Al-Mutair which lasted until midnight.
Mutair told reporters the meeting has decided to request a meeting with HH the Amir this week and he himself requested the meeting. Mutair expected the meeting to take place soon and probably before the Eid Al-Adha holidays starting next week. MP Muslim said yesterday that the opposition will request HH the Amir to change the prime minister and the government over corruption charges and for failure to run the country.
Ahead of the meeting, which was not attended by any representative of the liberal National Action Bloc, many MPs signed a document prepared by youth activists pledging to continue to press for the resignation of the prime minister. Bad news for the prime minister camp emerged early yesterday when MP Jowhar said he has decided to keep out of the National Assembly panels he was elected to last week until the corruption crisis is resolved.
About 15 MPs are accused of accepting bribes amounting to KD 100 million apparently for political reasons and the opposition claims it was paid as a price for the votes of those MPs in the assembly. The opposition also alleged that public funds were transferred into bank accounts held by the prime minister abroad but the office of Sheikh Nasser and the foreign minister strongly denied the allegations.
About 19 opposition MPs boycotted the election of National Assembly committees in the first session of the new parliamentary term last week and immediately formed the new opposition bloc vowing its aim is to force the resignation of the prime minister and dissolving the National Assembly.
The bloc has also vowed it will not cooperate with the government and MPs suspected of accepting the bribes. MP Muslim said that unseating the prime minister now depends on the positions of MPs Mazye, Jowhar and the four members of the National Action Bloc, who along with the 19 opposition MPs will complete the required 25 lawmakers required to vote the prime minister out of office following a grilling.
Muslim also called on Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi to inform HH the Amir that the National Assembly is paralyzed and should advise him that it should be dissolved and new elections called. MP Jamaan Al-Harbash called on MPs close to the opposition to withdraw from committee membership in order to isolate the government politically, saying this will accelerate its departure.
The public prosecution is investigating the bank accounts of about 15 MPs over allegations they received huge illegal deposits and the prosecution is expected to summon those MPs for questioning. MP Adel Al-Saraawi yesterday warned of summoning those MPs before asking the assembly to lift their parliamentary immunity as "a way to keep their identity secret".
Also, Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai challenged MP Saadoun Hammad to prove his allegations that Tabtabai holds a big bank account in Saudi Arabia.
