Leftism makes comeback in Internet era
Parties regroup to tackle capitalist forces
“THE General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov speaking during 15th Congress of his party which opened in Moscow on Feb 23 was quoted as saying ‘The International Communist Movement has managed to overcome its crisis and the world at the moment leans towards what he called ‘leftism,” columnist and former Director of Culture Department at National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters,” Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily Monday.
“He added, ‘The social base of capitalism has begun its downward trend and as such all tools which were used to suppress socialism will not prevent the millions of people from embracing this doctrine’.
“The Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the role that has been played by the Russian Communist Party in the country’s political life as well as to defend the social rights of the citizens in addition to its support for agriculture, education and industry in Russia.
“This happened although Putin for many years was involved in imposing restrictions on the activities of the Russian Communist Party and had repeatedly issued orders to arrest Zyuganov although he knows the man is the leader of leftist current in the Federal Republic of Russia not only the General Secretary of the Communist Party.
“Speaking of the Cold War, in spite of a counter campaign and propaganda that was waged against the then Soviet Union and Socialism by the great capitalist States during, the Leftist thought and principles found their way to all countries throughout the world including the Arab nations.
“Not just that, in spite of the committees that were founded by Britain and the United States of America to fight Communism in Arab countries to pursue torture and execute the communists the Leftist thought in these countries survived to a great extent.
“In this context, we recall following the victory that was achieved by the Soviet Union in 1945 against Nazism, the world witnessed a significant leftist renaissance which covered many countries of the world and some nationalistic parties such as the Arab Nationalists Movement was divided into the leftist and rightist currents.
“Following this development, however, the Palestinian resistance factions appeared as leftist organizations and the Arab backward movement which had woven an alliance with the political Islamic powers had failed to accuse the Communists of infidelity or immorality and this was evident through fostering of the leftist currents in the Arab world, because the leftist thought called for the application of social justice on all and achieving the principle of equal opportunities.
“This was accepted among the people throughout the world, particularly because capitalism was responsible for destruction and economic meltdown and the crisis of 1929 was a testimony of this doctrine which brought poverty and starvation to many countries.
“But in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Socialist camp in the early 1990s, the world witnessed the socalled ‘new liberalism’ or wild capitalism and this had resulted in spreading poverty and starvation throughout the world.
“Not just that, we recall how a country like the United States of America occupied some Eastern countries, looted their wealth, resources and destroyed its military forces and infrastructure and Washington even sowed the seeds of ethnic, religious and sectarian discords in these countries.
“However, prior to the capitalistic economic and structural crisis that lashed the world in 2008, some countries had started readopting the Socialist thought and this was evident through a success that was achieved by some Latin American countries following such a development.
“For its part, many European countries had adopted many austerity measures to deal with the capitalist economy and structural meltdown and it goes without saying these measures came at the expense of social gains by the people in the relevant countries and this resulted in the people throughout the world boosting their belief in the leftist thought and the Socialist system as an alternative to the capitalist system which had started suffering and losing its social base as Zyuganov said.
“For the time being, the world witnesses a wave of leftist renaissance just like what had happened during the second part of the last century. Not just that, we found some leftist parties weaving coalitions with the ruling regimes of certain countries and this development stretched to some former socialist countries.
“In light of the above, we infer the leftist thought has not disappeared following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, rather the leftist parties have surmounted the crises in this regard particularly following the appearance of the e-telecom revolution.”
Also: “It looks like Dr Ahmad Al-Khateeb (the historical leader of the Kuwaiti opposition) was relatively inequitable in his dealing with the youth opposition movement, or may be the doctor had acutely reflected his disappointment and despair towards the political situation which currently prevails in the country,” columnist Abdullatif Al-Duaij wrote for Al-Qabas daily Monday.
“Dr Al-Khateeb recently said the opposition youth movement was responsible for the deterioration. However, in my own opinion (and I had earlier penned some articles on this issue), I would like to point out that Dr Ahmad Al-Khateeb is too optimistic about the changes which have occurred recently in certain countries which for him represent an Arab Spring, but personally speaking I call it the ‘Arab autumn’.
“Such being the case, we found that Dr AlKhateeb’s optimism in this connection, led him to believe that Kuwait shall witness the same ‘Arab Spring’ and he was seemingly under the impression that anyone who is indifferent with the ruling regime or at loggerheads with the latter such as our ‘declared opposition’ is a democrat and supports the progressive and revolutionary change.
“But unfortunately, the experiment had obviously proved that even the marches of the Arab movement in general were unsound and as such the optimism towards the said movement was unrealistic and amounted to betting on something which looked nearly impossible.
“Not just that, we unfortunately found that the youth movement in Kuwait was and is still subjected to the influence and the electoral demagogue of the opposition members. This happened although most members had been proved undemocratic and had nothing to do with politics.
“In other words the objectives most members of the former parliamentary majority were motivated by their tribal and sectarian tendencies and it is needless to say these objectives were completely against both the personality of Dr Al-Khateeb and his political objective. Moreover, the said tribal and sectarian objectives are against the objectives of the youth movement in the country.”
“We thought it was a well-documented fact that June 19, 1961 was the real date of Kuwait’s independence from the British occupation,” columnist Abdulrahman AlAwwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“The 19th of June 1961 is considered to be the genuine day of Kuwait’s Independence from the British occupation. On that day, the deceased Amir, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the eleventh ruler of Kuwait, signed the Declaration of Independence with the British High Commissioner in the Gulf.
“The commissioner, on behalf of the British Government, abolished the agreement signed by Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, the seventh ruler of Kuwait with Great Britain on January 23, 1899 to protect Kuwait from foreign greed and ambitions.
“Starting from 1963 and due to the extreme hot weather of June, the celebration of Kuwait’s Independence was moved to the 25th of February, which is the same day Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah came to power after the death of his cousin, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Since then, Kuwait celebrates the 25th of February every year, for it’s a day of joy and happiness.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood group is riding a wave of American lure and the members of this group are delighted that they have come to power following the Arab Spring in countries which experienced the popular revolutions at the hands of the Arab youth who were looking forward for freedom and dignity,” columnist Mubarak Mohammad Al-Hajri wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“The Muslims were not aware and had not taken into consideration a fact that Washington could hand over the power to the Muslim Brotherhood on a silver platter. This is as if the destiny of the people is in the hands of Uncle Sam who controls them as he likes regardless of everything.
“The Muslim Brotherhood has failed rapidly in Tunisia, and its glow is diminishing after politicians discovered the group is nowhere near good governance and that they are not qualified.
“This is the reason why members of the group are constantly in conflict with other parties and a testimony of this is the resignation of the government of Hamadi Al-Jibali. Just like Tunisia, the position of the Muslim Brotherhood is no good in Egypt.”
“Members of Parliament Badr Al-Bazali, Hamad Al-Marri, Faisal Al-Kandari and Nasser Al-Marri have submitted a proposal determining the minimum salary for a Kuwaiti citizen to KD 1,500. This is in addition to the increments, allowances and loans,” columnist Abdullatif Al-Duaij wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“By the way what they have determined is ten times the salary wage of a worker in the United States of America. If we add to this the free water, electricity, fuel and raw materials, a Kuwaiti will be in a position to employ 10 American workers.
“Not just that, the four deputies have been over generous in their proposal, went on to ‘honor’ a Kuwaiti citizen by calling on the authorities to reserve for the citizen prime jobs except cleaning and porter’s job.”
“In one of my articles I had said the interpellations which have been filed by some MPs against four ministers were just for media propaganda and a kind of blackmail to achieve some interests. These interpellations will never succeed,” columnist Mubarak Mazeed Al-Moasherji wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“After the government demonstrated its intention to present a document of no cooperation with Members of Parliament, the Speaker of the Assembly held a meeting which resulted in the postponement of all interpellations until the next parliamentary term which is due to start in October. Some MPs such as Hussein Al-Qallaf and Faisal Al-Duwaisan have translated the move to postpone the interpellations as a sign of weakness and incompetence.
“These comments have sparked outrageous responses from the MPs, something which reminded us of the previous National Assembly and its low level of the dialogue of etiquette between members.
“I believe we still have to wait before we see any development and growth taking shape in our country and as long as the Constitutional Court has not issued its verdict on the one-man one-vote emergency decree, the government and the Assembly are still living in the midst of shifting sands.
“Therefore, it is up to us to support any initiative towards national reconciliation to be able to achieve solutions that will meet the demands of the government and the grievances of the opposition. Intimidations and stubbornness will only achieve more aggravations and provocations.”
“People should celebrate the national holidays with joy and pride because these occasions represent their freedom and independence. They must also remember the sacrifice made by the martyrs for the entire nation,” Dr Salwa Al-Jassar wrote for Al-Watan daily.
“We should call to mind the events before the discovery of oil, when life was so hard for those trying to find sources of living, as a great way of expressing loyalty for the country. His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad was known for these words, ‘All for Kuwait’, which mean a lot to anyone who deeply loves his country.
“To transform these words into action, we must work hard and coordinate our efforts to achieve the development goals of the country. God protects Kuwait but we should be aware that we will not stay here forever, so we must follow in the footsteps of our forefathers in ensuring a bright future for our children.
“We are expected to do many things for our country. From now on, we have to intensify our efforts in serving the nation to avoid the recurrence of problems. We should not commit the same mistakes over and over again if we want our country to grow.”
“It seems the Syrian issue will remain unsolved for quite some time. We witness killings every day because the feuding parties are equal in strength; hence, the revolution is prolonged,” Dr Hassan Abdullah Abbas wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“People, who thought the problem will end quickly like that of other countries, were shocked after this long period. The issue has become more complicated, especially when the opposition members started disagreeing with each other and this can be considered an advantage for the regime. They have completely refused any compromise or negotiation. However, the opposition agreed to reach a common ground with the tyrannical regime, but as I said earlier, the revolution is not like any other.
“We now observe all the factors we mentioned earlier, including the conflicts among members of the opposition for the benefit of the regime and its alliances. These conflicts will also allow the regime to impose its conditions on the negotiation table as long as the circumstances do not change.”
“The official statistics and reports we read every day in local newspapers indicate that victims of accidents rise steadily due to car stunts and recklessness, in addition to the lack of respect for traffic regulations and other road users,” Dr Hassan Al-Mousawi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“The statistical reports are so scary, giving the public an impression that our roads are not safe. We continue to wonder when we will lose our loved ones to cheap death traps which are difficult to justify. The fear of losing a loved one on the way back is a major thought whenever somebody plans to go and honor invitations to social gatherings.
“Yes, traffic accidents in our society have been transformed into massacres. When did lives become so cheap that we trivialize the issue? Are we not ashamed of the steady rise in the rate of road accidents? Don’t we feel guilty and hurt about it? Don’t we feel responsible for these accidents? Why don’t we join hands to stop this menace?”
“His Excellency the Minister of Finance, on the first day that you were appointed, you said the government has a clear vision and strategy to make a big change in the history of the country and lead it towards development which everyone expects from the authority and its members,” Khalifa Mussaid Al-Kharafi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“Al-Shamali pointed out that if the aim of the government is to move the stalled wheels of development, a new page should be opened and the past, which caused the deterioration of the country’s situation, should be forgotten. They must address a number of pending issues, such as the wastage of public money due to negligence, recklessness and absence of an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure strict compliance with the law.
“His Excellency the Minister of Finance, the problem of Kuwait cannot be solved unless the privatization law is applied. The recommendations of experts and highlyqualified people must be implemented without succumbing to pressure from troublemakers; that is if we really care about the progress and development of the country.”
“We have to remember our national heroes who sacrificed their lives for Kuwait, especially this time when we are celebrating the national holidays that bring back memories of the liberation of Kuwait from the clutches of Iraqi invaders,” Abdullah Al-Asqar AlAdwani wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The Kuwaiti martyrs were victims of Saddam Hussein’s treachery and betrayal. We are now commemorating the liberation with pride because the Kuwaitis have succeeded in proving to the entire world that we always act as one big family in difficult times. The rural and urban dwellers, as well as the Sunnis and Shiites, stood side by side to maintain the same identity while showing love for our dear country.
“As we celebrate this year, some elements amongst citizens are working hard to instigate chaos and destabilize the country to serve personal interests. Their purpose for causing trouble is fake and temporary. This purpose will vanish one day but the country remains forever as what His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad used to say repeatedly.”
“I think it is illogical to prevent the government from enforcing additional or new fees on public services if the action is linked to improving services and infrastructure in the country,” columnist Dr Khaled Ayed AlJenfawi wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“All citizens and expatriates benefit from these services, so government should aspire to improve quality of services as obtainable in the contemporary world. The government can even execute the tax system based on the incomes of individuals if there are concrete indications that the government is ready to invest it to improve public services — services such as road maintenance, healthcare, and educational and environmental services, which should be commensurate to resources accrued from the tax system.
“The explanation here means the quality of public services should justify the amount of tax payable to the Treasury, while citizens should benefit equally from the services. The government should realize that enforcing new or additional taxes and fees will create a series of relationships between the government and the citizens.”
“Ahmad Hussein Al-Kabanji is an Iraqi religious thinker who was born in 1974 in Najaf. He fled Iraq in 1979 during the reign of the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and lived in Iran until 2008. Then he returned to Iraq to take part in politics with thinkers of his like,” columnist Ahmad Al-Sarraf wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“The news of his arrest in Tehran has sparked condemnations among his fans due to his prestigious status in the hearts of those who are fascinated by his thinking and his work.
“According to reports he was arrested by Iran’s intelligence agency immediately after the return of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the Islamic Summit that was held in Egypt and after the Muslim Brotherhood Group complained about him claiming his ideas are dangerous and that he has been hiding his personality to avoid arrest.
“The name of Al-Kabanji was included in the list of those thinkers who were oppressed and persecuted in any given community during the dark ages. His ideas mostly focus on forming civil-Islamic trends that are in terms with human rights.
“Moreover, his ideas also focus on liberating Islamic thinking from the captivity of old translations, insisting that, word by word implementation of the texts will not help the advancement of Islamic thinking to cope up with the advancement of human knowledge.
“He also opposes the principle of leadership for religious scholars, and this is one of the reasons why even his elder brother is against him due to the fact that his brother is a leader of religious assembly in Iraq. Iran gives no freedom of speech and human rights for its people; what would happen if the person in question is not an Iranian?”
“The idea presents itself and imposes the reality, a small country geographically but big in grants, rich in natural resources, full of qualified citizens at all levels, but at the same time we are inactive and non-achievers,” columnist Faisal Hamad Ibrahim Al-Mazain wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“We have a vision and a goal, but we have lost our way, our steps do not to take us to our goals, but the opposite is correct. We move away and go backwards every day a thousand steps. We have a tremendous ability to solve the challenges and problems of others, but we are unable to solve our own problems. We spend billions on other countries and abandon our near and dear ones.
“The countries of the region have preceded us in translating our habits and our (Kuwaiti) customs which we have arranged in what we call our Constitution, but others have outdone us at all levels.”
“The events are about 23 years old — the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait — but people including the academics, politicians and writers keep saying the same things every year when remembering this day,” columnist Mohammad Saleh Al-Sabti wrote for AlWatan Arabic daily.
“The Iraqi invasion is history with all its effects, it has become even outdated, but in our society there are invaders who still occupy the society and issue judgments based on their convictions. Kuwait was proud that invaders did not find one person to cooperate with them, but the new invaders have found those who cooperate with them.
“The financial and administrative corruption has invaded us until it penetrated our daily lives and we cooperated with this invasion in our lives.
“For example look at the army of corrupt people who misuse everything and plunder its wealth and abilities. This is unlike the Iraqi invasion.
“How much did we lose during the invasion of the country by Iraq? And how much we lost materially due to the invasion of financial and administrative corruption of our departments and our institutions?
“Unfortunately this corruption is no longer a special feature in the government sector, but even our private sector has sunk in the mud of corruption and it has been disclosed by the recent financial crisis on the aspects of this corruption and its size and its effects on society.”
— Compiled by Zaki Taleb