‘Law allows Constitutional Court to invalidate electoral process’
“IN THE recent past a number of questions arose about the possibility of the court issuing rulings related to the invalidity of the electoral process due to its lack of integrity due to the presence of some irregularities that marred it, and the possibility of the court issuing a decision to recount the ballots in some or all of the constituencies,” columnist Hussein Al-Abdullah wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Given that the legislator assigned, in Law No. 14 of 1973, the Constitutional Court to adjudicate electoral appeals as a subject-matter court, the matter does not prevent the court from issuing rulings related to the invalidity of the electoral process in constituencies or in its entirety due to the seriousness of the violations that would affect the will of the voters.
“It is not forbidden for the Constitutional Court, in its capacity as a trial court, to recount the votes of some committees in some or all of the electoral districts, as long as it represents an obstacle to reaching the real numbers obtained by both the appellant and the contested winners.
“The recount report is something that the rulings of the Constitutional Court have not stopped. In addition to these issues, case law and the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court certainly do not preclude the ruling of the Constitutional Court in its capacity as a subject-matter court in the unconstitutionality of one of the laws on which the electoral process was conducted for violating the provisions of the Constitution, in the event that the necessary decrees issued to amend the election law and the electoral districts law, which are among the laws on which the operation was conducted.
“In addition, the constitutional wisdom, and also according to its precedents, saw the availability of a state of necessity in more than one appeal that was filed before it, such as the appeal against the decree of one vote and national unity.
“Therefore, the criteria that the Constitutional Court may proceed in ruling the unconstitutionality or soundness of legislation is not only due to violating the provisions of the constitution from a formal point of view, but rather imagining the realistic state of that state of necessity, and whether it was continuous, so it justifies its survival and occurrence, or does it not see an achievement, so it is not available.
“Finally, the rulings that the Constitutional Court will announce next Sunday, whatever their results, will be an important legal and constitutional event that leads to the survival of the National Assembly or its nullity and re-election again or the return of the previous parliament to complete its term in the event that the court accepts the appeal to invalidate the dissolution decree.”
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“I do not imagine that there is now room for doubt that our country is being targeted, and what is happening in it of destroying everything that is beautiful cannot be a mere coincidence or sheer negligence,” columnist Bader Nasser Al-Hamidi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Before 1990, we were racing against time in development and innovation in all fields, and then the foundations of the state began to collapse at all levels -- living, educational, economic and infrastructural.
“What happened to change the beautiful time of my country into a nightmare of theft, destruction of facilities, and a low standard of living for the individual? We see a single group that controls the joints of the state, represented by the executive authority and some members of the Legislative Council, and everyone - except a few have deviated from the path of reform and development to conflict and the implementation of vengeful agendas that destroyed the entity of the state.
“This is what led to changing the approach to government work to a non-professional one, as a result of the method of selecting members of the government over the past seventeen years, and many of the governments that were formed did not last for more than a year.
“Unfortunately, this approach is still continuing, and we do not witness effort to choose statesmen and national decision-makers. This applies to the Legislative Council that monitors the actions of the executive authority, which -- unfortunately -- also - some of its members have moved away from their primary role in focusing on enacting laws that work on development of the country.
“The country and the citizens have become victims of this nightmare that we are living through, and there is no way out of it unless the decision makers work to change the approach in the method of government formation and choose a government team that is distinguished by its performance and has experience in achieving administrative growth, and has the ability to address the urgent matters of the state, whether economic, legal or administrative.
“The Audit Bureau and “Nazaha” law will be reviewed, and unnecessary governmental bodies will be abolished, and I believe that without this change in the curriculum, the situation will not be rectified. We pray to the Lord to fix the situation so that the smile returns to the people of Kuwait, so that they live from the good of their country in safety and security, and as the saying goes ‘Hope is that small window, which, no matter how small its size, opens wide horizons in life’.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad – may God protect him – asked the information ministers and media representatives of Arab countries who are participating in the meetings of the Standing Committee and the Executive Office in Kuwait to promote Arab media and unify its discourse in a bid to intensify efforts to address rumors and deal with their dangerous repercussions, to develop a strategy to deal with social media platforms that are spreading incorrect news,” columnist Abdulmohsen Al-Husseini wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“These lofty directive was given to the Arab media leaders in light of the bad conditions that people are suffering from. Rumors and bad news about the situation in the country abound and these fabrications created a kind of suspicion among the people.
“These rumors also affected the awareness of young people, so His Highness urged the media practitioners to guide the youths and develop their awareness in order to confront any destructive ideas.
“They should find ways to address rumors and light the way for young people, so that the latter do not fall into the trap of false news broadcasted by these sites. They must educate people, respond to rumors and prevent them from spreading. Rumors that have increased in recent times must stop.
“The media plays a fundamental role in educating everyone including the youths, promoting culture, exchanging experiences and strengthening social relations. Various media platforms, radio, television and press must be utilized fully to raise public awareness in order to foil attempts to exploit social media to spread lies and rumors.”
“Until now, the country is still in a state of political and economic paralysis,” columnist Hassan Al-Essa wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“The phrase above does not reflect reality. The rule is that the country is in permanent paralysis.
“What is happening today is not an exception, as it is rather a continuation of an old reality caused by the inherent intellectual deficit of the authority, which found its way to extend the state of inactivity under the pretext of issuing the ‘constitutional’ ruling and its consequences.
“This expected ruling has become the talk of the hour, instead of the people in power pondering options to reform the economy.
“In his book, ‘Oil Wages... Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the Emirates,’ Michael Harb said he believes that the National Assembly – which is unique in its presence in the Gulf countries – is not the obstacle to the implementation of ambitious economic projects to diversify sources of income.”