The announcement was made following a lengthy meeting by 18 opposition MPs attended by almost all the lawmakers who walked out of the opening parliamentary session on Tuesday and boycotted the election of Assembly panels, forcing the selection of panel members without competition in an unprecedented move in Kuwait’s half century of parliamentary democracy.
MP Falah Al-Sawwagh, who attended the meeting, said there was an agreement to form a new group called the "Opposition Bloc" that brings together all lawmakers opposed to the prime minister.
Liberal MP Saleh Al-Mulla said he attended the meeting on behalf of the National Action Bloc and agreed to a statement prepared by the meeting that calls for a new government with a new prime minister. Al-Mulla said that he believes the rest of the six-MP National Bloc supports the same goals, but added that he will convey to his colleagues what happened at the meeting.
If the MPs of the National Bloc and independent Shiite MP Hassan Jowhar join the opposition, it will then have 25 votes, which are enough to vote the prime minister out of office.
But at the moment, the number of the opposition will rise to 20 because two leading opposition lawmakers, Jamaan Al-Harbash and Ali Al-Deqbasi, were absent and will attend future meetings.
Al-Anjari said the elected committee will hold almost daily meetings to discuss ways to deal with the government – accused by them of failure to run the country – and with a number of MPs suspected of accepting millions of dinars in political bribes.
Anjari however declined to explain the specific issues discussed by the opposition MPs during their first meeting, but a number of them have said in the past that a collective decision to resign is not entirely ruled out.
Veteran MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Khaled Al-Sultan, Musallam Al-Barrak and Faisal Al-Mislem were among those who attended the meeting. The committee includes MPs Al-Anjari, who was appointed spokesman, Al-Saadoun, Al-Sultan, Mohammad Al-Mutair, Naji Al-Abdulhadi, Al-Mislem and Mubarak Al-Waalan. Al-Mislem said the committee will hold a meeting today while the opposition will hold a meeting on Sunday.
About 19 MPs walked out of the opening session after attending the Amiri speech in protest against the government and as an indication that they refuse to deal with about 15 MPs allegedly involved in an unprecedented corruption scandal that has shaken the country.
According to opposition MPs, the public prosecutor is investigating the bank accounts of 16 lawmakers suspected of receiving huge deposits estimated at KD 100 million. The boycott of the opposition to the election of Assembly committees resulted in forming some committees with a number of MPs lower than that required by the Assembly’s internal charter.
But speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi denied reports and statements that the election of such committees breached the internal charter of the Assembly and should be considered illegal.
Khorafi said there is no problem in the formation of the committees and if there is a desire to complete those committees, it can be done in the coming sessions, although he added that he cannot force an MP to join a particular committee.
The speaker also said that so far he has not decided whether to contest the forthcoming general election scheduled for 2013 unless the Assembly is dissolved and early polls called.
Khorafi also denied allegations that MPs being investigated by the public prosecutor will be able to exploit their membership in the Assembly committees to prevent any legal action against them if they are proven guilty.
