At the second anti-corruption rally attended by 3,000-4,000 protesters, MP Musallam Al-Barrak bluntly accused the government of paying millions of dinars in bribes to at least 11 MPs to win their votes in a bid to rescue the prime minister and other ministers who faced no-confidence votes following grillings.
Islamist Salafist MP Khaled Al-Sultan described the corruption case as "an unprecedented crime that must not pass without punishment", saying that he believes the number of MPs involved in corruption will rise and that the amount of money involved will "be at least KD 80 million".
Sultan demanded that all people should know the names of MPs who received the money, the side that paid and the source of the funds, adding that "it is not logical to believe that the Central Bank does not know". He also called for forming a parliamentary investigation committee in order to reveal the MPs involved and the source of the money, calling for a united action to force the government and the prime minister to leave.
Former MP Mohammad Al-Khalifa of the Popular Action Bloc appealed to HH the Amir to take action against corrupt elements, saying that this government has taken Kuwait to catastrophe. "All the governments in the world fight against corruption except our government," Khalifa said.
Azzam Al-Omaim, representative of the Democratic Forum, said the corruption case is a massive scandal, a state security crime and a political graft case. He said that corruption has penetrated the country and has become widespread, adding that there are "whales of corruption who are behind spreading graft".
Dhari Al-Rujaib, representative of the Progressive Movement, called for dismissing this government and forming a reformist government that should first expose those responsible for the corruption scandal.
Islamist MP Jamaan Al-Harbash stressed that the "continuity of Sheikh Nasser’s government is an insult to the Kuwaiti people" and wondered how MPs who are implicated in corruption cases are going to vote on anti-corruption legislation.
He said that the unified opposition will continue its struggle until it succeeds in the removal of the prime minister. Khaled Al-Khaled, chairman of the National Democratic Alliance, called for ending disputes within members of the ruling family, saying such disputes represent part of Kuwait’s problems.
MP Barrak vowed he will release documents he has that will be evidence of the involvement of the government in corruption. The opposition also agreed to hold their next rally on Oct 19.
Meanwhile, leading opposition figure and veteran MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun yesterday launched one of the strongest attacks yet on what he described as "corruption pigs" and vowed the opposition will continue to bring down the government "which poses the most serious threat to Kuwait".
Addressing a press conference at the National Assembly, Saadoun said that the value of contracts awarded by the government to certain influential people exceeds KD 2 billion and these are the "corruption pigs", adding that they loo
k strong but in reality they are mere dummies and can be dismantled easily.
Saadoun said that Kuwait is strong and capable of facing all the risks but said that the warnings published on WikiLeaks that there are fears that Kuwait may not exist after 2020 "have been caused by big influential and corrupt people" who are preventing the government from even discussing these remarks.
The lawmaker also warned that Kuwait oil revenues may not be sufficient to meet expenditure after a few years. He said that in the current fiscal year, wages and subsidies account for KD 13 billion and that in 2029/2030, it is forecast to grow to KD 53 billion if no measures were taken.
To meet this spending, Kuwait will require to produce 3.5 million barrels per day at a price of $ 150 a barrel.
