Family Visa Suspension For Expats Under Scrutiny By Business Committee

According to MP Osama Al-Zaid, Chairman of the Parliamentary Budgets and Final Accounts Committee, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) recently discussed its comments about recruitment procedures in ministries and their subsidiaries. Among the 1,222 violations recorded by the CSC, 1,133 are yet to be addressed, according to Al-Zaid. Three hundred and ninety-three violations have been recorded against public institutions and their subsidiaries, of which 104 remain unresolved. He clarified that some public institutions adhere to recruitment regulations. According to him, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry committed 644 violations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed 331 violations, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy committed 75 violations, and the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) committed 35 violations. The committee asked the above-mentioned institutions to address violations, especially those involving the illegal payment of cash to certain officials. The president made it clear that any institution that does not correct its violations will be subject to budget-related decisions. According to him, many of the violations involve illegally disbursing allowances and privileges to undeserving individuals.

The lawmaker said that the committee found a large number of vacant leadership positions that require special decrees to fill. The designation of acting officials who hold leadership positions for a long time has negative consequences, such as the delay of urgent decisions. The acting official is afraid that the decision he makes might be wrong and result in his dismissal. There are some acting officials who cooperate with corrupt parties in order to obtain certain advantages and privileges," he revealed.

Al-Zaid says the committee is eager to determine the powers granted to the CSC, as such powers seem unclear, to the extent that the CSC issues exceptional recruitment decisions. According to him, the Ministry of Education has asked the CSC to appoint a number of officials, such as the chairpersons of educational districts, as an example of CSC's attitude toward recruitment procedures. The CSC replied with 12 pages explaining that all the nominees did not meet the requirements, so they were not approved. The CSC later issued a one-page decision exempting all nominees from the conditions and approving all nominations. This example shows that some CSC decisions are taken whimsically rather than in accordance with regulations. The above-mentioned decisions were issued in 2017 and 2018, which means they occurred during the previous CSC officials' terms. To correct the path, he called for transparency, calling for ordinary citizens to be able to see the minutes of CSC meetings. Any senior official who violates the law will be deterred by the people's monitoring, he said.

Another development is the inclusion of 20 incoming letters on the agenda of the ordinary session scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday:

- The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for National Assembly and Cabinet Affairs Essa Al-Kandari has asked the Parliament to approve Kuwait joining the GCC agreement to tax harmful commodities;

- MP Mehalhal Al-Mudhaf has requested the Human Resources Development Committee investigate the manipulation of procedures for hiring national workers in private companies;

- Request the Business Environment Improvement Committee to conduct a study on the consequences of the Ministry of Interior's suspension of family visa issuance to expatriates in the private sector;

- It is requested that several MPs assign the Public Funds Protection Committee to follow up on the cases of the Kuwait Army Fund and overseas military offices, as well as to conduct field investigations inside and outside of Kuwait.

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