Kuwaiti lawmakers have called on Muhammad Dayf Allah al-Sharar, the deputy prime minister and state minister for cabinet affairs, to quit because of allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Parliament in December had ordered the audit bureau, the state's accounting watchdog, to investigate allegations that al-Sharar was to blame for squandering hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds.
The charges were made during a questioning session by liberal members of parliament Ahmad al-Mulaifi and Ali al-Rashid who said the minister had either taken part in alleged graft or failed to stop corruption in departments under his authority.
In its report, the audit bureau confirmed a number of the claims and complained that it did not receive enough cooperation from some government agencies.
Resignation demand
"The report confirms our claims ... I call on the minister to act in a brave manner: Take responsibility and quit," al-Rashid said.
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"The report confirms our claims ... I call on the minister to act in a brave manner: Take responsibility and quit"
Lawmaker Ali al-Rashid |
"This is a historic opportunity to declare war on corruption ... the minister should be held accountable and I advise him to resign. It's time to leave," MP Walid al-Tabtabai said.
But al-Sharar told Monday's assembly session he had already sent parts of the report to the public prosecution to launch a criminal investigation into the allegations.
MPs backing al-Sharar accused his opponents of targeting the minister for personal reasons and because he "belongs to Kuwaiti tribes".
The deputy premier had survived a no-confidence vote following similar questioning in March 2003.
Last week, Muhammad Ahmad al-Jar Allah resigned as health minister after facing a stormy grilling in parliament over allegations of graft.