We are far away from democracy

Democracy is not just about elections only. Democracy is freedom of opinion and expression, and without freedom of expression in any shape, there won’t be democracy, and there is no individual who doesn’t play his role freely with enough abilities to allow him to choose what he thinks is in his interest. Freedom of expression cannot take place completely and effectively without the “freedom to reach it”, or events or judicial rulings. Here, we do not lack the required encouragement to search, investigate and make opinions. Rather in reality, everything is dark and protected by banning getting involved in it.

The human being here is born with a packaged mentality that he gets, or rather imposed on him, by the sacred religious and social inheritance. This mentality is not imposed and taught to the young only rather he will be banned from touching it after he becomes an adult and his physical built becomes complete, because he does not grow “mentally” at all. He is born with the mentality of his fathers and grandfathers. This ban is by the law, enshrined in article 19 of Kuwait’s media law and its amendments.

So, it is natural to quarantine the freedom of opinion in all shapes, and that the citizen should overlook this freedom, although the founding fathers were keen on instilling it in article 175 of the constitution: “The provisions relating to the Amiri system in Kuwait and the principles of liberty and equality, provided for in this constitution, may not be proposed for revision except in relation to the title of the amirate or to increase the guarantees of liberty and equality.”

Based on backward mentality and malicious unconstitutional laws, two distinguished parliamentary candidates such as Safaa Al-Hashem and Abdelhameed Dashti were struck out, without anyone caring or being angry. That means that banning the freedom expression has become a tool used by anyone who wants to isolate or block the opportunities of representing the nation from whoever is seen as a danger or negatively affects them.

We do not suggest bad intentions in the disbarring here, just as much as we do not suggest perfections in those who were struck out, but there remains that every individual has the right to freely express his opinion in a democratic society. He should not be held to account politically later or at any time, as the case was for some people over the practice of their freedom and enjoying the rights the founding fathers were keen to provide and guarantee for them.