The premier urged the GCC member states to set up a common strategic food stock and coordinate their purchases in order to limit inflation.
GCC countries should avail of their resources to ensure food self-sufficiency as part of a move to achieve wider Arab food security, Shaikh Khalifa said, asserting the government’s support to investments in food industries given their role in protecting GCC markets from the impact of volatile global prices.
During his weekly majlis, the prime minister said the government will do its best to take necessary measures for citizens to cope with the rising prices which are basically linked to global economy. He asserted that the government had managed to control the prices of many goods.
The Prime Minister was speaking at his majlis attended by a number of ministers, officials, clergymen, media and citizens.
Calling on the people to avoid trading blames and exaggerated complaints, he urged them to resort to dialogue and coordination in addressing all national issues.
The government was keen on offering regular social assistance to the needy in order to ensure decent living conditions to all citizens, the premier added.
Kuwait woman minister grilled by Islamist deputy
Reuters: Kuwait’s only woman minister, who angered Islamists by refusing to wear a head scarf, faced hostile questioning from an Islamist lawmaker adding to tension between the government and parliament.
Education Minister Nouriya al-Subaih has been under fire from the start of her tenure after defying Islamist calls for her to cover her hair when she was sworn in last April.
Newspapers said up to 20 lawmakers backed a move by Islamist lawmaker Saad al-Sharie to interrogate her in parliament over her record — a move often used to force ministers to resign before a no-confidence vote which the reports said might be scheduled.
Kuwait’s parliament was locked in a row with the government for much of last year. Newspapers said the latest clash could prompt the OPEC oil producer’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, to dissolve the assembly.
Pressure has been mounting on Subaih, a liberal, since her ministry tried to deny an incident in which three boys were sexually assaulted by Asian labourers at a primary school, the newspapers said.
Sharie, requesting the questioning session, said the assaults had been the result of negligence.
He accused Subaih of administrative irregularities and said she was behind falling educational standards.
"We have been trying to find indications of educational reform but we have found only the opposite," Sharie said in parliament.
He described Subaih’s management style as: "I can do what I like and no one can hold me accountable. Anyone who is not with me can go." The government, liberal politicians and women rights activists have dismissed the accusations against Subaih.
