NEWS
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014
ARRABE: Arab Israelis wave Palestinian flags during a rally commemorating Land Day yesterday in this northern Arab-Israeli town. — AFP
Panel OKs raising children allowance... Continued from Page 1 The issue has been in the National Assembly for several months after a large number of MPs submitted a variety of proposals calling for the raise, but almost all were rejected by the government citing their cost. Some MPs had called for doubling the allowance and make beneficiaries unlimited, while others called for increasing the allowance to KD 75 and the number of children open and a number of other MPs sought the allowance to become KD 75, capping the number of children at seven. The government had told the Assembly that all the proposals were costly and would overburden the budget already inflated by huge salary and subsidy increases during the past few years. But MPs insisted that the increase was necessary to help parents cope with an ever-rising cost of living, but chose the least expensive proposal of all. The Assembly is expected to debate the issue tomorrow even if the government rejects the draft law. MP Safa Al-Hashem insisted that Kuwaiti citizens have the right to enjoy a state of welfare in line with the country’s wealthy status. Hashem argued that the government was not honest regarding the concerns it expressed, and is instead trying to avoid fulfilling the duty of guaranteeing welfare to Kuwaitis. “If the government wants welfare for Kuwaiti citizens, they are required to provide them with allowances and decent services,” she said in a statement yesterday. Hashem questioned the government’s arguments including one that indicated that raising the children’s
allowance to KD 75 will costs an additional KD 270 million to the state’s budget. “Kuwait hosted 4 summits within a year which cost at least KD 480 million,” Hashem said, insisting at the same time that citizens “must be given the right of an allowance for their children”. Shiite MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan meanwhile yesterday submitted a draft law calling to jail for three years people who fight abroad. The bill targets those who take part in fighting in an Arab country or in a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference. Last month, lawmaker Nabil Al-Fadhl submitted a similar proposal calling for a jail sentence of up to 30 years for those who fight outside the country or send militants. MP Yacoub Al-Sane said yesterday that he has not withdrawn a proposal to amend the constitution in a bid to raise the Assembly membership from the current 50 to 70 members. The lawmaker said that the number of MPs who signed the motion has dropped to 17 after one MP withdrew his name, “but this will not make him abandon the idea”. Sane said he still needs the signatures of five more MPs in order to officially submit the proposal to the Assembly. Under Kuwaiti law, the prior approval of HH the Amir is essential for starting the lengthy and complicated procedures to amend the constitution, which has remained without change since it was issued in 1962. The legal and legislative committee in the meantime approved the amendment of the unemployment benefits law for nationals, rapporteur of the committee MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said. But the panel delayed a decision on a draft law concerning arms until the government sends its opinion on the issue, he said.
Egypt presidential election May 26-27 Continued from Page 1 The Islamists have vowed to continue protests, which along with persistent militancy, threaten to further damage the country’s already battered economy. At least 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed in a police crackdown on street protests, according to Amnesty International. Yesterday, a student was killed at Al-Azhar university in Cairo, a prestigious seat of Sunni Islamic learning, in clashes between protesters and security forces, official daily AlAhram reported on its website. The student’s death comes two days after five people, including an Egyptian journal-
ist, were killed in clashes between Islamists and police in Cairo. In Sinai, militants killed a soldier yesterday, security officials said. Sisi has vowed to restore law and order and address the teetering economy, in turmoil since a popular uprising overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011. He is supported by a broad range of liberal and nationalist parties. But some dissidents who supported his ouster of Morsi, after millions demonstrated demanding the Islamist’s overthrow, now say he is reviving undemocratic practices. The retired field marshal has said there will be no return to the corruption and human rights violations of the Mubarak era.— AFP
Palestinians rally to mark Land Day ARRABA: Palestinians and Arab Israelis commemorated yesterday Land Day with rallies remembering six of their number who were shot dead during a 1976 demonstration against land seizure. In the northern Israeli town of Arraba, thousands of people turned out for the main demonstration, many waving Palestinian flags, an AFP correspondent said. A smaller gathering also took place in Sawawil, a Bedouin village in the southern Negev desert which is not recognised by Israel, with police saying hundreds participated. The annual Land Day demonstrations are held to remember six Arab Israeli protesters who were shot dead by Israeli police and troops during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee. In annexed east Jerusalem, some 70 demonstrators gathered outside the walls of the Old City by Damascus Gate, throwing stones and chanting slogans, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the rally was quickly broken up and one
person arrested. Spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP that Land Day demonstrations were “over or nearly over” by the evening and that nothing out of the ordinary took place. There were also several gatherings in the Gaza Strip, with scores of people attending a demonstration near the northern town of Jabaliya organised by the ruling Hamas movement. Among the crowd were youngsters wearing green baseball caps and makeshift tunics fashioned out of the Palestinian flag. They changed slogans and held up banners reading: “We will return to our land, no matter how long it takes.” A demonstration near the southern city of Khan Yunis drew similar numbers, among them dozens of children holding balloons bearing the Palestinian flag or scrawled with the word “Gaza”. Scattered demonstrations and sitins also took place in the West Bank, including in the southern city of Hebron where foreign peace activists also attended. — AFP
Erdogan’s party takes strong lead... Continued from Page 1 Anticipating a poll triumph, a boisterous crowd of his flag-waving followers were watching TV coverage on a large screen outside AKP headquarters in Ankara, waiting for Erdogan to give a “balcony speech”. “Once the ballot boxes are opened, the rest is only footnotes to history,” Erdogan earlier said as he voted in Istanbul. “Today it is what the people say which matters rather than what was said in the city squares,” he told reporters, as supporters chanted “Turkey is proud of you” outside. Months of political turmoil - fought out in fierce street clashes and explosive Internet leaks - have left Turkey polarised between Erdogan’s Muslim conservative supporters and a secular political camp. The premier’s heavyhanded response to being challenged on the streets and online has included a deadly police crackdown on protesters in Istanbul and blocks on Twitter and YouTube. The clampdown has alienated NATO allies and detracted from Erdogan’s much lauded record of driving an economic boom and transforming the country spanning Europe and Asia into an emerging global player.
“Our democracy must be strengthened and cleansed,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party as he cast his vote yesterday, vowing to build “a pleasant society”. Two activists of the group Femen, which has backed the Gezi movement and protested the Twitter ban, were arrested after staging a bare-breasted protest with the words “Ban Erdogan” across their chests. Erdogan’s government has been hit by damaging online leaks that started in December, with wide-ranging bribery and sleaze claims against Erdogan’s inner circle going viral in the youthful country. Erdogan has accused Fethullah Gulen, an influential US-based Muslim cleric, and his loyalists in the Turkish police and justice system, of being behind the leaks and plotting his downfall. The spiralling crisis has sent down the Turkish lira and stock market and rattled investors’ faith in the Muslim democracy that has often been described as a model for post-Arab Spring countries. If Erdogan’s party manages to sustain its early lead as the ballot count continues, it would suggest such troubles have been largely shrugged off by many of Turkey’s over 50 million eligible voters. — Agencies