Jassem Al-Kharafi, (Arabic: جاسم محمد عبدالمحسن الخرافي), born in 1940, has been speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly since 1999. Al-Kharafi studied Business Administration at the Manchester Trade Faculty in Kuwait and was director of M. A. Kharafi & Sons before being elected to the National Assembly in 1975. He affiliates with the liberal deputies and is regarded as a pro-government moderate.[1] However, Al-Kharafi has broken with the royal family on occasion. He recently criticized the ruling Al-Sabah family, and in July 2006 he vigorously denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon saying that the war would "turn us all into terrorists".[2] Al-Kharafi's family is famously wealthy. His brother Nasser is listed by Forbes as one of the richest people in the world. University of Tirana on 7 October 2011 gave the title Honoris Causa.[3]
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On November 3, 2007, Al-Kharafi told the pan-Arab Arabiya television in an interview that he had "question marks" about Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah's decisions. A transcript of the interview was published in Alrai daily, which included Al-Kharafi's comment that too many reshuffles necessitate "a review and an evaluation of what measures should be taken." Al-Kharafi said the reshuffle should not have been put off for the whole summer and that it indicated a "policy of patching" up problems, rather than solving them.
In response, Prime Minister Nasser issued a statement about Al-Kharafi to the state-owned Kuwait News Agency, which was splashed on the front pages of daily newspapers. In the statement, PM Nasser said that Al-Kharafi was overstepping in bounds in trying to influence cabinet selections: "I have no doubt that .... the speaker realizes that his attempts to interfere in forming the Cabinet and affecting its decisions is overstretching his constitutional mandate."
The back-and-forth marked the first such public tensions between a speaker and a prime minister.[4]
On July 13, 2008, Al-Kharafi publicly accused the West of "provoking" Iran on the nuclear issue. In his interview with state-owned Kuwait TV, Al-Kharafi said, "What is happening is that there are provocative Western statements, and Iran responds in the same way... I believe that a matter this sensitive needs dialogue not escalation, and it shouldn't be dealt with as if Iran were one of America's states." [5]
On July 1, 2008, Al-Kharafi blasted the assembly's human rights committee for holding a meeting with US embassy officials without asking permission from the speaker in accordance with protocol rules. Khorafi blamed the US embassy for committing a "procedural mistake" by accepting an invitation by phone, insisting that "the embassy should have told the committee that such meetings could not be arranged through this way and should have followed the right diplomatic procedures."
The meeting was held on June 30, 2008, to discuss the latest US State Department report that accorded Kuwait a tier three status on trafficking in people for its treatment of domestic helpers and foreign workers. Later, head of the committee Waleed Al-Tabtabai said the meeting was held on the basis of a request by the embassy and that the committee has not "overstepped the authorities of the speaker or the foreign ministry," adding that the committee had received similar requests in the past.
The US embassy officials were reported to have refused to discuss the US decision to freeze the assets of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society.[6]
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|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ahmed Al-Sadoun |
Speaker of National Assembly of Kuwait 1999–present |
Incumbent |