N E W SWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

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Three MPs have already signed the motion, which requiresat least 32 lawmakers to sign to force the government toattend the session. The motion calls to hold the session onSept 22, one week after the long Eid Al-Adha holidays.

MPs Ahmad Al-Qudhaibi, Awdah Al-Awdah andMohammad Tana have signed the motion initiated byQudhaibi, who criticized lawmakers who have threatenedto grill ministers over the petrol price hike, saying that suchthreats are election maneuvers. The hike in petrol prices,the first since 1998, went into effect on Sept 1 despiteprotests by a large number of lawmakers and campaignsby activists on social media.

MPs have demanded that the government shouldaccompany its decision by compensating Kuwaiti citizensby implementing a series of economic reforms that protectcitizens from the impact of lifting subsidies to meet thebudget deficit. The government has so far ignored therequests, but a measure to appease lawmakers ahead ofcrucial parliamentary election is not ruled out.

The motion demanded that the emergency session willdebate the government’s decision to reduce subsidies on

petrol and its impact on citizens and prices in general. Italso wants to discuss the reasons that made the govern-ment rush with the decision despite an agreement with theAssembly’s financial and economic affairs committee todelay the decision until further studies. The motion alsowants the session to debate measures adopted by the gov-ernment in implementing the economic reform package.

But MP Faisal Al-Kandari criticized the motion, sayingthat the time of negotiations and discussions with the gov-ernment has gone by and insisted that it was time foraction. The lawmaker said that he is determined to filerequests to grill ministers over the petrol price hike, claim-ing that the emergency session is intended to protect thegovernment and more specifically a minister. He did notname him.

A number of lawmakers have already announced theirintention to grill at least three ministers immediately afterthe start of the next parliamentary term in early October.The ministers targeted include those of commerce, financeand health. Kandari said that by raising petrol prices, thegovernment broke a pledge it gave to lawmakers not torush the decision, adding that questioning the governmentover this issue is inevitable.

Amir pardons prisoners, may ‘include...

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On the first day of the fair, Nakheel - the developer behindthe man-made archipelago of Palm Jumeirah - announced anapartment complex that it says will “dominate” the skyline.Dubai became a magnet for property investments when itopened the sector to foreigners in 2002, standing out in aregion that mostly confines freehold ownership to citizens.The value of property surged at breakneck speed until theglobal financial crisis hit the debt-laden emirate in 2009, send-ing prices into free-fall.

A recovery led by tourism, trade and transportationpushed prices up again between 2012 and 2014 and stirredfears of yet another bubble, before they headed south againat a slow pace. Prices had dropped by about 15 percent sincepeaking in mid-2014, according to a report by property con-sultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. Another consultancy, Cluttons,said prices “continued to soften” across the residential marketin the second quarter of 2016, losing an average 2.4 percent.

Cluttons said the average price per square foot now stands

at 1,375 dirhams ($375), which it said was almost 25 percentbelow the last “market peak” in the third quarter of 2008. “Wesee the residential real estate market bottoming out by theend of this year,” said John Stevens, managing director ofAsteco real estate services. “We’ve seen some slight declinebut certainly we expect the market to be stable,” he told AFP.

Transactions amounted to 57 billion dirhams ($15.5 billion)in the first half, according to official statistics, with Emiratinationals topping the list with deals worth 14.5 billiondirhams. The rest were snapped up by foreigners led by Indianinvestors, with transactions worth seven billion dirhams, whileSaudis and Britons clinched deals totalling four billiondirhams each. “External factors over the years have alwaysaffected the appetite from certain countries,” said Stevens.

These included the impact of the falling Russian ruble lastyear and the British pound this year, following the Brexit vote.But interest is still coming from elsewhere. “You’ve seen inter-est coming from other marketplaces. Certainly in the past 12months, we’ve seen much greater interest from China, forexample,” said Stevens. — AFP

Dubai keeps rolling out projects

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In a statement to the Mail on Sunday, Vaz attacked thejournalists while adding: “I am genuinely sorry for the hurtand distress that has been caused by my actions.”

Vaz was filmed and recorded meeting the escorts at aflat he owns near his home in north London last month,according to the report. In one conversation with anescort published in the tabloid and its sister publication

the Daily Mirror, Vaz reportedly offered to buy cocaine fora later date, although he said he would not take any him-self. He also asked an escort to bring the party drug pop-pers with him for their encounter. Vaz has previously saidin parliament that he would vote to ban poppers if thedrug was proved to be harmful. Vaz, who was born inYemen to parents from the Indian state of Goa, was firstelected to parliament in 1987 for Leicester East in centralEngland. — AFP

British MP resigns over sex scandal

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“The return of the investment made will be based onthe energy savings achieved.” German developmentorganisation GIZ, which supports the project, describesit as a “win-win” situation that will also raise awareness ofrenewable and efficient energy in Morocco. “It is basedon the idea that Moroccan companies... involved inthese mosques will be repaid through savings made bythe building manager,” says GIZ’s Jan-Christoph Kuntze.

All of the technology needed is “already available onthe local market”, he said, adding that this gave the proj-ect the potential to create jobs. “The mosques can play amultiplier role” of raising awareness about the need tosave energy and adapt to cleaner sources. KingMohammed VI has pushed a proactive policy of environ-mental awareness in the northwest African country ofnearly 34 million people, 99 percent of whom are Muslim.

Marrakesh will host the next world climate confer-ence, COP22, from Nov 7 to 18. One of the main chal-lenges for Morocco, which hosted COP7 in 2001, is to rat-

ify the Paris Agreement signed last year by 195 countriesto fight global warming. COP22 will “highlight the coun-try’s commitment to work for the implementation of theParis Agreement and to continue to support developingcountries... affected by the impact of climate change”,Mohammed said in a speech in June.

The king was behind an ambitious plan launchedin 2009 to develop renewables and enable the coun-try bereft of hydrocarbons to support nearly half ofits energy needs this way. The ultimate aim is to raisethe share of renewable energy to 52 percent of allconsumption. Central to this was the opening ofNoor I - the first stage of what will be the largestsolar power plant in the world - near Ouarzazate onthe edge of the Sahara desert. As Morocco countsdown to COP22, its people are being exposed moreand more to events and initiatives showcasing thecountry’s involvement in protecting the planet. Its“green mosques” project is expected to take centerstage in the drive for change being highlighted atthe conference. — AFP

COP22 host Morocco’s mosques going...

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The setback in US-Philippine relations comes at a crucialtime in the region, with China seeking to cement controlover the contested South China Sea. The Philippines,Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have competingclaims to parts of the sea, but have watched China expandits presence by building artificial islands in key locations. Aninternational tribunal ruled in July that China’s claims to thewaters through which $5 trillion in global shipping tradepasses - had no legal basis.

The verdict was widely seen as a sweeping victory forthe Philippines, which filed the suit under the previousadministration of Benigno Aquino. But China has vowed to

ignore the ruling. The South China Sea issue is expectedonce again to be discussed at the three days of meetingshosted by ASEAN, which will be attended by ChinesePremier Li Keqiang. Leaders of Japan, South Korea,Australia, India, New Zealand and Russia will also be inVientiane.

Laos is the final Asian visit of Obama’s eight-year presi-dency, during which he has sought to refocus American mili-tary, political and economic resources on the region. It is alsothe first visit by a sitting US president to Laos, which theUnited States secretly carpet-bombed for nearly a decade inthe Vietnam War, killing or injuring tens of thousands of peo-ple. Obama on Wednesday announced greater help in clear-ing the bombs, saying it was a “moral obligation”. — AFP

Obama cancels Duterte showdown

An aerial view shows the Clock Tower and the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Makkah yesterday. Muslims from across the world have gathered in Makkah for the annual hajj pilgrimage, whichis a pillar of Islam. — AFP