Lawmakers endorse 70 agreements in one day

KUWAIT: In a frenzy of endorsing en masse agreements with GCC states, regional, and international countries, the National Assembly put its seal of approval to no less than 70 agreements yesterday.

The agreements covered a wide variety of interests ranging from agriculture, finance, legalities, maritime, technology, double taxation to rights of the handicapped, military cooperation, customs duties, and patents rights. The Assembly, however, opted to leave open a number of security agreements on its agenda for later decision making, pending reports on them by the parliamentary committee on foreign relations in two weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly deliberated on the draft bill on the state’s 2011/2012 working plan and gave it green light, yesterday, with 26 ayes, 22 nays, and two abstentions with 50 MPs present for the vote. During the discussion, the MPs stressed the working plan needs to be comprehensive and realistic with clear visions and that goals listed must be presented with timetable for execution and in a format that allows for tangible assessment.