‘Bring reforms, end corruption’

‘Change like France eyed’

“THE big change that was brought about by the victory of the young French President, the 39-year-old Macron, is that he has changed the French traditional parliamentary map away from the major rightist and socialist currents,” columnist and Professor at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Law Dr Mohammad Al-Moqatei wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Macron actually founded his new party just about one-and-a-half years ago but he was determined to distance himself from the influence of the rightist and leftist French parties and this was evident through the structure of his party which consists of choice young politicians.

“During the recent parliamentary elections held on Sunday, June 18, 2016, Macron’s Party won an overwhelming majority about seventy-five percent of (the parliament) members.

“Through this victory most of the parliamentarians belonging to the rightist and socialist parties failed to regain their seats in the National Assembly. This happened although these two traditional currents had at one time dominated the French political life since the adoption of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

“It is needless to say the French in spite of the deeprooted democracy and effective manner of exchanging power and in spite of the seriousness of their government and their parliamentarians compared to our limited experiment which is full of loopholes and narrow personal interests, they had started casting doubts on the credibility of their parliamentarians who belonged to the two major traditional parties.

“In other words, the French voters felt the deficit in these parties too because they were no longer capable of meeting the demands and legitimate ambitions of the voters.

“Hence, they were determined to incorporate change into their country’s political map by voting for a rational administration that is capable of serving the interests of their country and this was evident through the tremendous change that occurred on the French political map.

“Certainly, this change was due and sends a resounding message to the former French leaders that the mistaken practices and both the political and financial corruption have inevitably to end.

“In other words, this message says the traditional French politicians whatsoever the period they have spent at the helm of power, their domination of the State institutions and parliament cannot last forever.

“We, in Kuwait are eagerly looking forward to such change – the change that has happened in France. In other words, we need a radical change in terms of reforms in the government and its management of the affairs of the country.

“Not just that, we are also looking forward to see different faces in the National Assembly because some members since 1992 have been impeding the march of the State and are the source of rampant corruption in the State institutions to such an extent we venture to say every new National Assembly is worse than its predecessor and so on.

“Such being the case, I and many Kuwaitis have been calling to get rid of the so-called ‘political class’ members who still dominate most of the State institutions because we want to uproot corruption and contain the frustration which currently prevails among some Kuwaitis. But in spite of the above, the radical change represents something impossible for the Kuwaitis, lest to say it looks like a dream.

“However, in conclusion, we say that the change that occurred in France through both -- the presidential and parliamentary elections -- we suggest the government and the Parliament change in Kuwait will inevitably come and this calls for optimism because reality shows the people of Kuwait in the near future will bask in a government and parliament that are capable of achieving the ambitions of the citizens.”

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Al-Moqatei

“Anyone who follows up the history of any political or intellectual doctrine, will observe that the followers of such doctrine promote this doctrine to keep abreast with the nature of their communities or States, but in a manner that is capable of maintaining the ideological aspects of the relevant doctrine,” columnist Thaar AlRashidi wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“But it is needless to say their political manner in dealing with the governments of their countries has been different to such an extent it looks totally different from that followed by their counterparts in the other countries.

“Take for example, the Muslim Brotherhood Group, the latter represents a political current but, for instance, the Egyptian members of this group are different from their Turkish counterparts. Moreover, the members of the group in Kuwait are intellectually different from their counterparts in all other countries.

“The Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood Movement or let us say Group, since the very beginning of its foundation, was part and parcel of the Kuwaiti political fabric and this is applicable to other Kuwaiti political currents.

“Hence, we found that this Group sometimes enjoyed a significant popular support particularly during the parliamentary elections, while this support sometimes saw a retreat.

“However, the Muslim Brotherhood Group shall remain a political current of religious nature. The group has pro government ‘doves’, and falcons. In the meantime, one have observed that the political attitudes of this group are no different from other political currents.

“In other words, some of these attitudes were controversial and the group had its opponents from among the traditional liberals and other Islamic currents, but the group had its supporters in the various election constituencies and this was evident through their remarkable presence in every Kuwaiti Parliament.

“In spite of the above, I think the volume of their actual representation in any of the Kuwaiti parliaments has never exceeded 12 percent, given the fact that most of their elements are schools and universities students. But irrespective whether you are in agreement or disagreement with members of this group, nobody can deny that his group is part and parcel of the Kuwaiti social and political fabric.

“In this context, we say the members of the Muslim Brotherhood Group in Kuwait are different from their counterparts in the other countries, because they are too close to the Kuwaiti community.

“In spite of the above, we concede that they have committed some political mistakes throughout their political experiment that could be dated back to 35 years.

“However, although according to their opponents the group had during the past period adopted some contradictory attitudes, its members have said the volatility was dictated by a fact that they were dealing with politics as the latter entails that the human being should play on the string of the changes instead of playing on a single tone.

“The Gulf states are living a psychological crisis which erupted over the past few days, as a result of the conflict between the desire to preserve the brotherhood and the interdependence of the peoples of the region and to single out and punish the wrongdoer,” columnist and former Deputy Director-General of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Iqbal Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“As soon as news of collective action to cut diplomatic ties and slap some economic sanctions was announced by some GCC states and Arab and Islamic countries with Qatar, which was accused of destabilizing the region and supporting terrorist groups, and insisting to tow its line, the social media users in the GCC countries called for calm amid efforts at mediation.

“However, with all love and respect for the people of Qatar and all the peoples of the Gulf region, the peoples of the Arab and Muslim world I mention the name of the Al-Jazeera channel which with the help of some guests and sponsors have added fuel to the fire.

During the Kuwait and Iraq crisis the Al-Jazeera channel planted the seed of dissent between Kuwait and some Arab countries which took negative positions on the issue of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait over the years until the feelings of brotherhood to normalcy and the situations changed completely.

Today, this channel instead of easing the pain between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab countries deepens the wounds until the pain spreads to the joints of the body.”

“We are learning a significant lesson concerning the need to maintain GCC unity, from the incidents currently happening in the Gulf region. The GCC represents the safety valve not only for the Arabian Gulf region, but also for the rest of the Arab governments after the windstorm,” Dr Hayla Hamad Mukaimi wrote for AlNahar daily.

“Several dignified secretaries general led GCC Secretariat General with massive contributions to consolidate activities of the Arabian Gulf countries.

I still maintain contact with the pioneer Secretary General Ambassador Abdullah Basharah because of his interest in reaching out to social organizations. We thus meet every now and then to discuss issues concerning the region.

It is also impossible to forget the indelible fingerprints left behind by Abdulrahman Al-Attia to activate joint Arabian Gulf activities. He is a top leadership personality who is known for his wisdom, stability and wellroundedness. He cultivates an undying habit of listening to all viewpoints for recall whenever necessary. Bu Hamad is a grassroots personality who moves close to decision makers and academics within the Arabian Gulf region, which serves as the main link for interacting with the GCC citizens.”

“Arab and Islamic countries were ahead of other countries worldwide in terms of civilization during the era of Abbasid Caliphate through advancement in the fields of philosophy, science, medicine and astronomy,” Mustafa Al-Sarraf wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“World history is filled with numerous achievements of Arab and Muslim scientists such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Al-Farabi, Al-Khwarizmi, Ibn Al-Haitham and Ibn Rushed.

According to history, Haroun Al-Rashid gave a fourmeter water clock, which was manufactured by the Arabs, as a gift to Charlemagne, the King of Franks.

Western colonialism replaced that style with colonial imperialism. Several Arab countries were deceived into believing the strange West would turn a new leaf and they would become friends or allies. However, the sworn enemies never feel for the Arab Ummah. They have always been standing firm as enemies to the Arabs, while working hard to divide and blackmail them to the extent of using them to execute their heinous plans.”

“Since the beginning of the era of popular participation, the successive Kuwaiti governments have had a parliamentary majority to confront the opposition agendas. Through this voting power, the Parliament passed whatever laws it wanted without the consent of the opposition and consequently, the government did not need to appease the opposition,” columnist Saud Al-Samaka wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“It is through this high political relationship that the country embarked on its developmental plan, which included all levels in a civilized style, making it the leading position in the Middle East in urban and political development.

“At the time we laid the foundation stone for a renaissance and the need to placate the opposition, even though often it was in harmony, and despite the fact that the opposition had not become contaminated with the culture of corruption and extortion, as is the opposition today and did not know the insolence bargaining practiced by the opposition today.

Although the government can pass all the development plans that the country needs, it unfortunately does not do that through its insistence to choose a parliamentary bloc that has become a burden on it and on the country, before it is a burden on the people.

“Therefore because the government has no ambition, no vision, no field plans calculated for a period of time, nor does it continue to possess the skills of leadership and vision for the future and innovative capabilities and distinguished development innovations, we cannot face any opposition.

Therefore, the phenomenon of the government that runs the country is one of the most dangerous and worst negative phenomena the country has witnessed in the context of its recent political history.”

“His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has highlighted the role of Kuwait’s foreign policy, which is based on the principle of positive neutrality, through its active and distinguished role in leading mediation efforts among the GCC countries in the Qatari crisis,” Nasser Khamees Al-Mutairi wrote for Al-Nahar daily.

“This honorable Kuwaiti role, which is highly appreciated by the Gulf brothers, was not sudden or momentary. It is part of a historical legacy of positive diplomacy and of the personality of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad who occupies a position of regional and international trust and respect.

“Kuwaiti diplomacy has succeeded in solving many of the Arab-Arab problems during annual summits and periodic conferences hosted by Kuwait throughout the history, including the Egyptian-Yemeni conflict during the Nasirid era, its mediation between South Yemen and North Yemen in 1972 and many other Arab conflicts. We cannot forget the last diplomatic efforts exerted by Kuwait when she hosted the April 18th Yemen peace talks under the patronage of the United Nations with the aim of reaching comprehensive agreement to end the Yemeni crisis.

“All these positive diplomatic roles have contributed to giving the State of Kuwait a political size that exceeds its geographically small size and a heavy weight on the scale of international relations. This is because of the balanced political approach of Kuwait as well as the active and commendable efforts of the man of diplomacy and the Global Humanitarian Leader – His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. May Allah guide and protect him!”

–– Compiled by Zaki Taleb