Kuwaiti parliamentarians set up anti-corruption unit
(AFP) 2 June 2005
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KUWAIT CITY - A group of serving and former Kuwaiti MPs have said on Thursday they have set up a local unit of a worldwide organization fighting corruption amid allegations of rising graft in the emirate.

The Kuwait chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) was launched at a meeting held Tuesday by nine MPs and eight former lawmakers, they said in a statement.

The meeting was called by Islamist MP Nasser al-Sane, who is vice chairman of GOPAC and head of the Arab chapter.

The parliamentarians said they formed the unit to “combat all forms and shapes of corruption and educate people about its risks on society and its moral values”.

“Our country Kuwait is not safe from the evils of corruption and its destructive impact, which requires consolidated efforts at all levels to eradicate it from the country,” the statement added.

The chapter becomes the third anti-corruption unit of GOPAC in Arab parliaments, after the Palestinian Authority and Yemen.

The Berlin-based graft watchdog Transparency International said in its report last year that a rise in perceived corruption had been observed in Kuwait, which went up from 35th position to 44th among 146 countries surveyed.

In April, several Kuwaiti MPs called on the state minister for cabinet affairs, Mohammad Daifallah Sharar, to quit over graft charges, some of which had been confirmed by the Audit Bureau, the state’s accounting watchdog.

GOPAC, which includes 250 parliamentarians from 72 countries, was formed in 2002 to promote accountability, integrity and transparency, and to combat corruption