O Leadership: Amnesty eliminates political gain

WHEN a leader is close to his people, he can gauge the popular mood. Such a realization would help him take necessary steps in addressing issues, and render his primary mission to be instilling reassurance to his nation, which will be the source of his happiness.

So, what if such a leader believes in the fact that direct contact with his people enriches his experience in governance, establishes stability, and increases people’s enthusiasm for work and production? There is a well-established fact in all countries that irrespective of the form of the political system, a state cannot function without a head. Even in constitutional monarchies, the powers of the king are much greater than what the public imagines, while the government remains just an executive tool, which hits once and makes mistakes at times.

Therefore, the head of the state is the ruler, and his orders and directives are transformed into decisions. On this basis, the people sometimes raise their voice so that the leaders can hear them and correct the course of the executive authority with firm directives.

There are powers over which no one can dispute with the ruler, including the special and comprehensive amnesty. Therefore, the pardon issued by the ruler was, for the first time in many years, a source of joy for the Kuwaiti people, regardless of their social components.

This is due to the fact that it came directly from the country’s leadership, and cut off any political and parliamentary gains, or tribal, sectarian, or regional claims about it, and hence the amnesty was greatly appreciated.

This blessed step, which came at the right time, is seen by Kuwaitis as one of a series of several steps that they expect from the leadership, including the removal of injustice from tens of thousands who suffer as a result of loans. It is inconceivable that there are 120,000 citizens whose services and transactions have been suspended, and they are forbidden to travel due to their failure to pay. All state institutions are preoccupied with them because merchants and usurers are taking advantage of a law that suffers from many defects.

There is no doubt that this matter represents a major obstacle for a significant proportion of Kuwaitis, as there is no country in the world where a citizen is prevented from traveling because of a civil debt.

There are many solutions to this, such as the government rescheduling those debts for long periods, as is the case in housing loans, and then the borrower can work and pay what he owes without being prevented from exercising his civil rights.

There is a lot of talk about Kuwait’s problems. Some of them can have a populist appeal for political and electoral investment, but when their solutions come from the leadership, they block the way for opportunists, as is the case with a general amnesty.

Therefore, it is very important that other populist issues not remain the subject of electoral and political investment, and that they be of interest to the leadership and the ruling house because it will increase the people’s rallying behind them, and prevent fishing in murky waters.