Corruption, a major issue
The prime issue the new young parliament is facing is corruption at various state bodies. This does not mean that there are no other worthy concerns, but corruption is our major concern. It is a deeprooted disease that has been undermining the state’s foundations and has very strong connections with influential private sector establishments and individuals. Fighting the corruption ghost ought to be a major concern for lawmakers who still believe that Kuwait is more than just a source of money from which they wish to get as much as they can.
According to bribery principles, corruption does not only mean deals worth billions or mega contracts that are tainted. It goes far beyond and includes the whole chain of command, from small employees who get paid without doing any work to the top of the ‘misery’ ladder, and ministers who adjust everything with the help of special advisors who push their own interests. The cycle endlessly continues from up to down and vice versa. Corruption also goes beyond financial issues and prevails in the legislation and monitoring machineries that keep reflecting endless ugly images.
Corruption is also oppressing free opinion. People with opinions are haunted by the laws and people are chased out of the country and forced to leave, which is the worst intimidation. They are not only deprived of expression, but are also forced to say what the stringpullers want them to speak, eventually, joining a large flock that does not dare to speak about corruption in public. These sheep continue living without noticing the butchers waiting at the corner of the near future.
This state of indifference and getting over-indulged in daily consumption habits is our real dilemma. We are on the verge of an economic disaster under a completely incompetent political administration that still runs things by old methods and limited mentality, which resists change and fears facing challenges.
For now, the new parliament doesn’t need to file an interpellation to absorb public anger and gain more public support if it goes beyond any redlines. Public awareness is what the country really needs right now. We are facing serious challenges at the border. The region is changing and moving fast into the unknown while ‘they’ remain the same. Keep up to what you have been entrusted with. A citizen accused two persons he knows of damaging his brother’s flat because of previous dispute. Detectives are working on the case. A woman in her twenties trusted a colleague of hers who promised to marry her, and went with him for a ride. But when they were alone, the man sexually assaulted her so she jumped from the car and ran away. The woman went to a police station and filed a report. A citizen accused a doctor of causing the death of his 51-year-old mother due to a medical error. The case was referred to detectives to investigate the doctor’s credentials and treatment. A citizen attacked a young man who was harassing his wife. The attacker was arrested and the young man was taken to Mubarak Hospital and placed under guard.
— Translations from the Arabic press