‘Success eyed in safe return of ship’s captain’

‘Ruler, people bond vital for progress’

“THE government and the people of Kuwait celebrated the successful return of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah from the United States of America where he had undergone medical checkups and recuperation,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, Dr Haila Hamad Al-Mekaimi wrote for Annahar daily.

“It is a celebration and joy for all citizens loyal to this country. We felt as if we live in the atmosphere that usually accompanies the celebration of national holidays, this return represented a new holiday in which everyone breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the Amir enjoys good health.

“This is unlike what is happening in many Third World countries whose citizens more often than not see force and threats being the order of the day to enforce legitimacy and survival of the political system, forgetting that human bond is stronger than any link to which citizens are linked to their countries.

“Yes, everyone who is concerned about the health of HH the Amir lived difficult moments until the culmination of that auspicious return to the homeland, it is the feeling of the family towards the head of the family. This is the personal status of HH the Amir, which has left big imprints on mankind through his vision of the international arena and human philosophy taught to the generations of researchers in the field of diplomacy and international relations.

“His vision and expectations in the international theater has been the foundation stone for lost international peace that begins with the reform of the house from within. It is difficult for a failed or broken state to contribute to build blocks of international peace.

“Whatever we see in world forces that attempt to enforce their laws, we find that after they recognize after a period the importance of international law and maintain it as a guarantee of survival for all members of the international community without exception.

“This is the area where His Highness has been active all his life through diplomatic efforts and mediation to defend the rights of the civilians against the use of excessive force in many countries that practice racial discrimination against minorities, but it is besieging the international community to retreat from these practices. Kuwait has been and is defending those values, rights and obligations.

“In particular, Kuwait has been a victim of such practices that took place during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Kuwait absorbed this era and has gone from strength to strength, thanks to the wise leadership of His Highness.

“We hope after the return of its captain the nation will complete its march in the region which is in dire need of rulers and enlightened leaders like His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, may God protect him.”

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Dr Al-Mekaimi

“In this world, many forms of government have emerged and one of them is ‘democracy’, through which the people partake in running the country either directly or through ‘deputies’ who are elected for this purpose. If the country goes backward, it cannot be called democracy. However, today what we see is something else, whose name we have yet to know,” columnist Abdulaziz Bomejdad wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“The form of democracy we have in Kuwait is the parliamentary form or ‘parliamentary democracy’ in which the people participate in the development of the country and also monitor the performance of the government and hold it accountable for its shortcomings and corruption, but the situation now has turned upside down.

“We find the Prime Minister, who has all the powers to complain about corruption, thus he admits the failure of all concerned institutions concerning accounting and stopping wastage and detecting thefts and embezzlements, and to add insult to injury we find some MPs opening offices and citizen service centers in their homes to receive the transactions and complaints of people.

“It is noticeable that the government is silent about this unfortunate and strange situation, and this silence is only indicative of the government’s satisfaction with this situation which proves the government’s inability to solve the people’s problems.

“The inability of the National Assembly to reform the situation in the country allows a deputy to open a ‘police station’ or a citizens’ service center in his own home. This can be acknowledged as the government failure or rather the government has acknowledged its failure in accomplishing its task entrusted to it and it appears the government has moved its institutions and centers inside the home of the deputies to complete the government tasks.

“Member of Parliament who turns his home into centers to look into the personal transactions of voters from his constituency for their benefit are not worth sitting in the National Assembly even for a minute.

“The issue of opening a ‘deputy’ service center or what can be likened to the outpost in his private house goes beyond the issue of the government’s support for the deputy. If the government allows one deputy to do so, it should be fair and allows 50 deputies to do the same thing, which is ominous and warns us that neither the government nor the deputies are seeking reform.

“These ununworthy deputies seek to do so and all that is going on between them is to coordinate and exchange the roles to achieve personal interests. It is essentially to send a message, this message should be directed to citizens.

“It is citizens who select their representatives to complete their transactions from their homes although it is their right and the task entrusted by the government.”

“The return of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to his motherland from a medical trip in the US brings joy and happiness to every person in this country. Everyone is eager to see their leader return fit and ready to take the steering wheel of the country,” Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“When the news of his return went viral, the hearts of the people of this country were filled with jubilation and joy. His Highness the Amir is the beloved leader of everyone in this country. As long as he is well, the country is well and also its people. We are happy for his return to his beloved land and people.

“Indeed, we deserve to congratulate ourselves over the return of our leader, and thank Almighty Allah for blessing us with the generosity and virtue of this leader who has returned to complete the course of development of this country and its people.”

“One may ask why Kuwait is eagerly waiting for the return of the Amir and humanitarian leader His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah from his medical trip to the United States of America”, Waleed Ibrahim Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“His Highness the Amir has left and continues to leave a legacy of wisdom and rationalism in dealing with different issues that have stormed both inside and outside Kuwait. His principle is to deal with such issues calmly and carefully. If it were not for Almighty Allah and the wisdom of our captain, our ship would have lost its bearing amid high waves and strong winds of challenges.

“We should not forget Kuwait’s balanced stance concerning the GCC crisis and its position towards issues related to Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon and other countries of the world. After all of this, it is hard to blame this nation for eagerly waiting for the return of the global humanitarian leader and praying to Allah to protect him from all evil and harm and continue blessing our country and its people with peace and security.”

“In spite of the hundreds of committees set up in the ministries and state institutions that earn millions as a result of their ‘supposed work’ involving dozens of contracts signed with consultants from across the globe, we in Kuwait have an attribute not practical in many respected countries around the world, which is making big decisions without first conducting a careful study on the implementation process and the possible outcome,” Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“Perhaps one of the most significant decisions taken, improvised and implemented without coordination, study, examination and scrutiny, is the decision to increase fees on expatriates in government hospitals and medical facilities. This has led to a humanitarian catastrophe in the first place to hundreds of thousands of expatriate workers who earn little money that is not enough to feed their families in their countries of origin. There is no real benefit in the second place due to lack of money to be saved, because the decision was taken in response to outcries without proper study.

“However, things became more severe than we predicted, not only did the policies raise the prices of treatment, examination, radiology, etc. to double or double the salaries of many expatriates leading to the reluctance of poor people to obtaining treatment, which doesn’t only harm them humanely, as it also affects the labor market economically, resulting in low revenues in the Ministry of Health, according to a local newspaper.

“Revenues have dropped from KD 29 million a year to KD 20 million due to the tendency of many financially able expatriates to visit private hospitals for treatment as they provide better quality medical services for similar prices compared to government hospitals. Moreover, many experts say the move to increase fees without real study of the benefits, damages, results and machinery created a black market for treatment and medicines among the poor working classes of expatriates, which is causing harm to their health.

“What is happening confirms that the proposed imposition of fees and taxes on citizens, which is the next policy of the government without a doubt, must come after a careful study of the economic and social conditions of the population of Kuwaitis and expatriates. Otherwise, what happened in the Ministry of Health will happen to the whole country.”

— Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli