The Kuwaiti National Assembly announced today, Tuesday, that "Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun announced the council's approval to accept the resignation of the Head of the Audit Bureau, Faisal Al-Shayea," after Al-Saadoun requested to adjourn the session to a closed meeting to discuss the matter. Al-Shayea submitted his resignation on Thursday in protest against what he termed parliamentary interference in his work and attempts to undermine the independence of the bureau, according to local media.
The newspaper Al-Jarida quoted Al-Shayea in his resignation letter addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, stating, "The structure of the Audit Bureau, the constitutional oversight arm of the esteemed National Assembly, is threatened with destruction and sabotage under the hammer of extreme politics and the mallet of private interests."
Al-Shayea spoke about what he described as "exceeding" by some parliamentary committees towards the bureau's work, to the extent of interfering in its jurisdictions, considering the situation to have turned into a "political dispute."
MP Badr Nashmi expressed his reservations regarding what was stated in the resignation letter of the Head of the Audit Bureau, noting that "the violations and complaints against him make his removal from office justified." Nashmi pointed out in his statement to the National Assembly that complaints from employees in the Audit Bureau against its head prompted the lawmakers to submit a motion for his dismissal "to rectify the situation in the bureau."
The Audit Bureau, which is an independent entity attached to the National Assembly (parliament) according to its founding law, is one of the most important oversight bodies in the oil-rich country that has witnessed years of bitter conflict between successive parliaments and governments, disrupting economic and financial reform plans.
