KUWAIT, 19 April 2004 — A Kuwaiti lawmaker told Parliament yesterday he wanted to question the health minister in public about allegations including negligence at hospitals, favoritism and breaking medical regulations.

It will be the second “grilling” of a Cabinet minister in Parliament since the new government took office in July.

Finance Minister Mahmoud Al-Nuri narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly in March which could have cost him his job, after a grueling questioning by a lawmaker over charges of mismanagement and wasting public funds.

Hussein Al-Qallaf, an independent MP, told Parliament in a written request he wanted to question Health Minister Mohammad Al-Jarallah on five issues, including allowing “favoritism ... and wastage at the expense of public interest.”

The minister has 15 days to prepare his replies.

Asked to clarify the allegations, Qallaf said patients had died as a result of negligence and inadequate facilities in operating theaters at some medical centers.

He told reporters he wanted to “hold accountable a minister I think has not fulfilled the trust demanded of him as health minister. ... There are clear violations, encroachments of authority and transgressions that the minister is directly responsible for...”