‘Kuwaiti diplomacy reaped benefits’

‘We pray to keep our foes at bay’

“THE word ‘right’ must be said after the end of the nonpermanent membership period of the State of Kuwait in the United Nations Security Council, which spanned over two years,” columnist and the deputy chairman of the Islamic Heritage Revival Society (IHRS) Dr. Wael Al-Hassawi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“Kuwaiti diplomacy during this period has played an extremely important role in adopting all initial issues in that important international institution, and defended all issues of concern to the international community.

“In this context, the Kuwaiti Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Khaled Al-Jarallah, was at the head of all active movements and moved in many international forums to clarify the opinion of Kuwait on all issues on the ground.

“For his part Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, Kuwait’s permanent representative to the United Nations, emerged with his distinguished proposals and his solid defense of Kuwait’s stances, especially his responses to the allegations of the Syrian envoy to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, who accused Kuwait of supporting terrorism.

“Likewise, we do not forget the positions of Kuwait’s permanent envoy Ambassador Jamal AlGhunaim representatives of Kuwaiti international organizations particularly in presenting strongly human rights issues.

“We shall also remember the distinguished role played by the first secretary at the Kuwaiti embassy in Geneva, Abdullah Al-Khubeizi, in supporting Kuwaiti charity work and coordination with Kuwaiti charities; as such Al-Khubaizi won the appreciation the chairmen of all of the Kuwaiti charity societies of charities.

“Of course, I don’t know most of the employees who are working for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it is needless to say that the attitudes of the State of Kuwait in general call for pride and appreciation, simply because their Amir represents for them, the example to be followed.

“This is not strange to Kuwaiti society. The Sheikh of Diplomacy, the Amir of Kuwait, may God protect him, was always clear in his position when some countries were involved in practicing aggression against their people, such as the Zionist attacks on the Palestinians, America’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, its recognition of the confiscation of settlements, and the Syrian Baathist assault on the Syrian people and many others, this is how the Kuwaiti people learned the meanings of freedom and dignity from the behavior of their Amir, and this became his approach to life.

“Kuwait’s position on these issues was not limited to its government, but the National Assembly had its distinctive role in rejecting the aggression and calling for the recognition of the right, which was done by Speaker of the Parliament Marzouk Al-Ghanem during many conferences, where he demanded the expulsion of the Zionist entity from the conference and described them as child killers!

“We have seen Kuwait’s position in dealing with the ‘workshop’ which was suggested by Jared Kushner the son-in-law of President Donald Trump which was floated under the title ‘Deal of the Century’ which the state of Kuwait boycotted, believing that it aims to swallow the rest of Palestine and empty it of its Palestinian population under false names.

“In conclusion, we say the commitment to the principles represents a great advantage.

We thank Almighty Allah for the same. In the meantime, we hope His grace will persist in our country, particularly since we know that the foes still conspire against us and they are still seeking to destroy our principles and defile our land.”

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Al-Hassawi

“The new Kuwaiti government must brace itself for the upcoming financial crisis and although the economic experts are still at loggerheads over its timing, they are in agreement that this crisis will inevitably occur,” columnist Dr. Ali Abdurrahman Al-Huwail wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“However, the expectations are confirmed by a set of grounds and phenomenon topped by the global debt which is estimated at $220 trillion, viz threefolds of the entire world income, particularly since we know that the latter was estimated at $71 trillion.

“In this context, we cite the nature of the capitalist system which currently prevails in the world because it consecrates the monopoly of wealth is controlled by a few people, and then strive to correct its march to redistribute it.

“Apart from the above, we refer to the trade war between the United States of America and China which can be attributed to the slow growth of the US economy vis-à-vis the Chinese which is currently growing at an accelerating pace and this constitutes a threat to the US position as the sole superpower in the world.

“Besides, there is another set of factors that shall cast the world into acute financial crisis which will result in companies terminating the services of a great number of employees following lack of demand for their products and these companies will most likely be reluctant to stop its production resulting in less fuel consumption meaning less demand for oil and this will negatively reflect on the oil producing countries in general and on those which mainly depend on oil as a sole or major source for its income including the State of Kuwait.

“Apart from the global challenge facing the new government, there are some other challenges which have been inherited from the previous governments in terms of deficit in the state budget, the country economy’s dependence on oil exports as the major source, the slow growth of the Sovereign Fund compared to other funds such as that of Norway and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“However, to counter all the above challenges, we suggest that this can be realized by containing corruption and squandering and embezzling government money as it happen now in several government institutions.

“In other words, this policy should be strictly encountered which reflects the government seriousness by putting in place penalties which were endorsed by the former governments.

“By doing so, the new government will gain the popularity and confidence. Likewise, we suggest the government must hasten to intensify control on its apparatuses and punish those who are involved in corruption.

“Furthermore, the government must hasten to handle all negative aspects which are a result of imbalance in the population structure which has contributed to rampant corruption. This can be done by replacing foreign manpower with firms which are specialized in management and help enhance the production rates and improvement of quality.

“This shall enable the Kuwaiti manpower to gain modern experience and eventually establish a developed work system in the country’s ministries and institutions that shall create an environment to attract both the local and foreign investments.”

“There is a state of discontent and criticism from a large segment of the public because the parliamentary proposal to form a committee for investigating the granting of Kuwaiti citizenship to a large number of undeserving people via fraudulent ways was dropped.

Most of the criticism was directed at the government that voted to abstain. Its vote was a major reason for the rejection of the proposal,” Abdulmohsen Jumaa wrote for Aljarida daily.

“According to the information circulated, there are 400,000 people who obtained Kuwaiti citizenship fraudulently. This is definitely a huge number when considering a population of no more than 1,400,000. Perhaps an investigation into this matter will constitute a factor that threatens social peace and national stability. Of course, the government will fail in any test related to the issue of nationality, because it was the most important tool of power since independence to deal with the new reality that resulted from the establishment of the democratic system and its ability to influence elections and the political process.

“In the mid-1980s, which is about 25 years after the issuance of the Constitution, it became clear that the demographics of Kuwaitis had changed dramatically. All the service facilities in the country became crowded because they were not designed for such large number of people and were unable to deal with the sudden growth in the population of citizens. After that, the Kuwaiti society started witnessing profound cultural and social changes, most of which are negative.

“Since the beginning of the modern Kuwaiti state in 1961, the citizenship decision became sovereign and could not be issued without the consent of the decisionmakers within the ruling family. No Kuwaiti citizen, despite his position, was able to get citizenship without their approval. Thus, the problem came under their monitoring and control.

“It was better for the government to initiate immediate investigations on the issue of citizenship, especially when reports of the large number of those who obtained it unjustly started circulating. Unfortunately it did not do so, because citizenship is a political tool in Kuwait. Sadly, the Parliament has approved a law that allows the government and Minister of Interior to annually naturalize thousands of non-Kuwaitis, despite the absurdity and political use of this law.

“The parliament should have stopped issuing such absurd and destructive law for the country except in a limited manner such that only those who are qualified and have distinguished capabilities are given citizenship.”

“The whole world celebrates the first day of every new year. It is a tradition that most countries and peoples have pursued from long time ago. It does not belong to a specific religion or doctrine, but rather to all human beings who share the same calendar,” Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“Kuwait is no exception to this. The late Mohammad Saqr Al-Mousherji, in his book “The Dream of Modern Kuwait”, deals with the story of the establishment of Kuwait Municipality. He documented all the announcements of the municipality, which were laws in that period, from 1930 to 1940 including the consideration of Jan 1 and the first day of the Islamic New Year every year as an official holiday for schools and government departments.

“So why do people feel joy and optimism when a new year arrives when in reality, the dividing line between a year and another is imaginary. Why do we find crowds of people in various capitals and cities of the world who are keen to celebrate this day?

“Since eternity, a person has been in search for everything that gives him pleasure and a positive feeling. So he thinks happiness comes from things outside us such as money or a new car or promotion and others, but all these things come with temporary happiness and do not last forever; some say happiness is a group of various small moments of happiness.

“In another paradigm of the New Year’s Day celebration, not all people are in a stable, prosperous, and moody manner to celebrate, as some of them do not change with the change in the calendar, but may feel worse and miserable.

“Indeed, if we were to ask something from the coming year, it would be a homeland that progresses and develops with the development of humanity. We want development and reform that restores respect for the civil state, and the state of institutions and law. We want a homeland without corruption.”

“For a long time we have been hearing slogans about fighting corruption. We will soon hear them again as the general elections are approaching, and candidates always raise slogans that attract voters such as exposing and fighting corruption,” Dr. Hind Al-Shoumar wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“To combat corruption, we must have a strong infrastructure with laws that are in line with the international standards and agreements issued by the United Nations. Strengthening and supporting the infrastructure must be a top priority in the government program, while providing all resources and capabilities, primarily by educating the society on all procedural and ethical aspects, and spreading awareness about corruption and its laws and repercussions for those who are convicted on corruption charges.

“Once awareness based on facts and figures expands, citizens will be a major partner in any national strategy to uncover and combat corruption, not just to be a witness to these events.

“It may also be appropriate not to attach any accusations of corruption to any person except with the availability of substantial evidences, because the accusation of corruption is chasing successive generations, and the accused may not find an opportunity to absolve himself of unjust accusations.

“Civil society institutions and public utilities, the press, and free media have great responsibilities to educate society about the importance of combating and exposing corruption, and using legitimate methods without defrauding or discrediting innocent people. Therefore, let us work together to uncover the hotbeds of corruption and fight them until our country lives up to its potential.”

“Those who follow the state of the roads in Kuwait are convinced that Ministry of Public Works has reached the stage of being unable to play its role in modernizing the main road network and streets in the cities. Some of their promises of reform have extended to more than five years,” Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for AlSabah daily.

“We are not underestimating the efforts of the ministry in carrying out its work, as we have been monitoring and seeing with our own eyes the terrible conditions of most of the roads in the country. Some of the roads that were maintained were left half-paved for months, and we don’t know the reason behind that.

“What is the reason behind this delay in restoring the roads that have directly and indirectly resulting in casualties and claimed innocent lives? What about the huge material losses incurred by citizens due to the damages to their cars and shattering of their windowpanes?

“The situation is catastrophic by all standards… the highways are dying… the internal streets in and around all areas of the country are not usable. However, Ministry of Public Works seems to be doing nothing except sign contracts to upgrade these roads.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb