Kuwait City: An opposition lawmaker on Wednesday accused more than a dozen former and current members of Kuwait’s parliament of accepting millions of dollars from the government in exchange for votes.
During testimony at special session of parliament, Riyadh Al Adasani showed what he said were documents proving that 13 legislators had received 51 million dinars ($170 million) in 2011.
Adasani named those lawmakers who have allegedly accepted the bribes for voting in favour of the government in the parliament. Of them, four are members in the current parliament.
Al Adasani was a member of a parliamentary panel formed in early 2012 by the then opposition-dominated parliament to probe the issue of bribes paid to lawmakers.
The parliament decided to investigate the allegations after the public prosecution shelved the case in October 2011, saying it had found no evidence of any wrongdoing.
The prosecution had interrogated the accused lawmakers in the highly publicised case which triggered large street protests in late 2011 and led to the resignation of former prime minister Shaikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah.
The government on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing in the case and said it was ready to act if it receives any evidence.
During Wednesday’s session of parliament, several lawmakers alleged that corruption is rampant in the country and the government not doing enough to curb it.
Lawmakers passed recommendations calling for the amendment in anti-corruption legislation within a month to allow the case to be reopened.
They also called on the anti-corruption authority to start accepting cases related to alleged bribes paid to lawmakers.
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