The decision came after a marathon meeting at the diwaniya of MP Shaye Al-Shaye which concluded after midnight during which MP Musallam Al-Barrak explained the main points of his planned grilling.
The next meeting of the majority bloc, which consists of more than 30 MPs, is scheduled for Saturday to determine the issues to be included in the grilling expected to be submitted next week.
If the majority continues to support the grilling, it will be able to vote the minister out of office if Shamali, finance minister for more than five years, decides to face the grilling. Twenty-five votes are needed to vote any minister out of office and the opposition bloc has more than 30.
The majority bloc meeting was surprisingly attended by Minister of Housing and National Assembly Affairs Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, a member of the opposition before he became a minister in February. According to deputy speaker Khaled Al-Sultan, the minister warned the MPs about risks facing Kuwait.
Sultan did not elaborate on the nature of risks that Muwaizri warned from. If it goes ahead, the grilling will be the first to be filed by the majority bloc after two grillings had already been submitted and debated by the supporters of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
In another key development, the Assembly panel investigating allegations that the former premier transferred millions of public funds into his private overseas accounts decided to summon the current and former prime ministers but no date was set for the move, head of the committee MP Faisal Al-Mislem said.
The parliamentary committee has powers to invite any present or former official for interrogation and is capable of recommending legal action against those who refuse to attend. Mislem said the panel has also decided to authorize him to go to the foreign ministry to see the documents that the ministry has refused to provide to the panel.
According to MP Barrak, who was the first to break the news about the transfers, around 400 transfers worth an estimated KD 77 million were made through the Central Bank and the foreign ministry at the direct or indirect instructions by the former prime minister.
The committee has already met with present and former senior officials including former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah who resigned in October last year over the issue of transfers.
The committee also met with Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, undersecretary Mohammad Al-Jarallah, Kuwait’s envoys to Britain, the United States and Switzerland where the transfers were made through the three diplomats.
Mislem said the committee has summoned the finance minister, the head of the Audit Bureau and the secretary general of the council of ministers to its meeting next Saturday after which the date for summoning the present and former premiers will be set.
The judicial tribunal specailised in the trial of present and former premiers and ministers is conducting a separate investigation in the alleged scandal. Mislem said he has been called by the tribunal to hear his testimony today. The tribunal had already heard the testimony of Barrak, several officials and diplomats and is scheduled to summon the former premier.
Meanwhile, the “minority” bloc, consisting of 10 MPs supporting the former prime minister, held a meeting yesterday and discussed the political developments, MP Abdulhameed Dashti said.
Dashti also said that he will soon submit proposals to amend the state’s inheritance law in a bid to “expand the Amir’s powers and organize the house of the ruling family”. He provided no further details.
