Manama: Only candidates who hold doctorate degrees should be allowed to run for parliament, a Kuwaiti lawmaker said.
“I know that I will be criticised for such a proposal and that some sitting lawmakers will not agree with it because it harms their own interests, but I believe that the higher interests of the nation are more important,” MP Abdul Rahman Al Jiran said.
“The advanced degree will allow lawmakers to submit draft laws in a correct and scientific way,” the MP, who holds a PhD, said in a statement explaining his reasons for trying to change the elections laws.
Al Jiran said that he was also planning to amend the constitution in a bid to update its articles.
Under his proposal, the number of lawmakers will be increased from the current 50 to keep up with the multi-fold increase in the population since 1962 when the constitution was promulgated.
According to the Kuwaiti constitution, the number of cabinet ministers should not exceed a third of the parliament, or a maximum of 16, including the prime minister. The restriction has forced several ministers to have more than one portfolio and Al Jiran hopes the increase in the number of lawmakers will allow the formation of a larger government in which no cabinet member will have more than one ministry.
The proposal also calls for the appointment of independent ministers for development, higher education and youth.
