Cabinet holds weekly session
Date: 04/06/2012      Time: 06:02:00 PM
 
The Cabinet held its weekly meeting on Monday at Sief Palace under the chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. After the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said the Cabinet reviewed a letter addressed to HH the Amir from His Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan tackling the successful visit to Japan by HH the Amir last February, in addition to ways to strengthen the already good relations between the two countries. The Cabinet also looked into a letter addressed to HH the Amir from His Excellency Felipe Calderon, President of the United States of Mexico, which included an invitation to HH the Amir to attend a seminar on creative thinking to address global challenges for the future to be held on June 16 in Los Cabos. HH the Prime Minister briefed the Cabinet on results of the visit to the country yesterday by His Excellency Michel Suleiman, President of the Republic of Lebanon, a visit that comes as translation of the distinguished historical relations between the two leaderships and peoples. Also, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled briefed the Cabinet on results of Kuwait's participation in the fifth session of the Arab-Sino Cooperation Forum as Chair of the current session of the Arab League, which was held in the Republic of Tunisia recently. The Forum discussed strategic cooperation between Arab countries and China and ways to strengthen mechanisms for cooperation in political, economic, cultural and environmental spheres consistent with common interests. Furthermore, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled also briefed the ministers about results of his participation in the Arab League's extraordinary meeting, the Arab Ministerial Committee meeting on the situation in Syria and a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee at the ministerial level, held in Doha last Saturday. The Doha meeting called on the Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations and take the necessary measures to ensure full and immediate application of the Annan plan within a specified time frame. The Cabinet also reviewed recommendations of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the draft law on the protection of national unity, a draft law on the organization of Hajj and Umrah, in addition to a draft law to amend some provisions of Law No. 5/1982 on the establishment of Zakat House. The Cabinet approved the bills and forwarded them to HH the Amir prior to submitting them to the National Assembly. The Cabinet also took note of a draft decree on the approval of an air services agreement between the Government of the State of Kuwait and the Government of the Republic of Benin and a similar one with the Government of the Republic of Finland. The Cabinet approved the bills and forwarded them to HH the Amir. The Cabinet then looked into a report of the Audit Bureau to examine the issue of remittances made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Kuwait's embassies abroad, based on the provisions of Article 25 of the law establishing the Audit Bureau. The Council of Ministers while praising the Audit Bureau's objectivity and neutrality, it has decided to deputize bodies concerned to examine this matter and report to the Cabinet quickly and identify those responsible for such shortcomings. The Cabinet also discussed the National Assembly Affairs and its agenda. For his part, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor briefed the Cabinet on the interpellation motion filed against him by MP Al-Saifi Mubarak Al-Saifi, which is on the agenda of the parliament for tomorrow's session. The Minister said he was currently studying the grilling in light of what it contains of violations of provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Parliament, in addition to explicit violations of the Constitutional Court's principles in relation to grilling. The Cabinet then looked into current political developments on Arab and international levels.