Marzouq al-Ghanim is the current speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the second district. Al-Ghanim earned a BA in mechanical engineering and worked for Boubyan Petrochemicals before being elected to the National Assembly in 2006. He is the son of Faiza Al-Kharafi. He was elected as the Speaker in 2013.
Background
Both Marzouq al-Ghanim's paternal and maternal families were historically wealthy and still are today. His paternal family, the al-Ghanims, claim descent from the original Bani Utub families which settled Kuwait along with the Sabahs. Patronized by the Sabahs, the al-Ghanims' wealth was estimated at "millions of rupees" before the 1940s. His maternal family are also wealthy and include Kuwaiti billionaire and speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assemblyfor 12 years Jassem Al-Kharafi.
Political career
On December 19, 2006, parliament voted 39-20 to reject a bill that would have seen the governmentwrite off $27bn of its citizens' private debts. Marzouq al-Ghanem voted against the bill, telling the assembly, "What do we tell those who did not borrow? What do we tell those who paid back their loans or part of their loans?" On April 25, 2007, MP Saleh Ashour called in a statement for reopening Kuwait's embassy in Baghdad and for strongly supporting the government in Baghdad. But al-Ghanim said he believes that it was too early to reopen the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad and that this issue should wait until security situations improve. On February 8, 2008, al-Ghanim, as head of the Youth and Sports Committee, agreed reform the Kuwaiti football program in line with the recommendations of FIFA. In November 2007, FIFA had suspended Kuwait from all international matches because of governmental interference in the national football program. The dispute originated with Kuwait's October 9 elections for key posts in the country's soccer federation. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation refused to recognise the polls. FIFA said Kuwait had ignored the two bodies' "road map" of reforms requiring them to set up an interim board to organize fresh elections and draft new guidelines to prevent governmental interference in the game. On September 28, 2008, al-Ghanim, along with MPs Abdullah Al-Roumi, Ali Al-Rashid, and Adel Al-Saraawi have proposed a draft law which suggests that the government fund Kuwaiti students' higher education at private colleges. According to the bill, the government would bear half of the expenses for students enrolled in private universities in Kuwait, excluding Kuwait University. On December 28, 2008, Kuwaiti lawmakers Mikhled Al-Azmi, Musallam Al-Barrak, Marzouq al-Ghanim, Jaaman Al-Harbash, Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi, Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Nasser Al-Sane, and Waleed Al-Tabtabaie protested in front of the National Assembly building against the attacks by Israel on Gaza. Protesters burned Israeli flags, waved banners reading, "No to hunger, no to submission" and chanted "Allahu Akbar". Israel launched air strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on December 26 after a six-month ceasefire ended on December 18. In October, 2017, al-Ghanim, speaking at an Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, stated that the Israeli delegates "represents the most dangerous form of terrorism: state terrorism" and told the Israeli delegates to get their things and leave the hall. The Israeli delegation did leave after overwhelming applause from parliamentarians from other countries present at the meeting.
