‘Majority’ must mend ways for support
‘Govt clueless on strategic solutions’
“THE opposition in Kuwait needs to reconcile with the citizens not the government, because we know the government has failed to dismantle the opposition and the reason being it has no clear cut vision to deal with many local events including public issues and this means the government has no specific strategy to deal with various national dues,” columnist and former MP Khodair Al-Enezi wrote for Al-Qabas daily Sunday.
“Speaking of the opposition, the members have weakened themselves and this is represented by such a policy that has been adopted by the opposition - the policy of ignoring others by augmenting itself to such an extent it has concentrated only on a single issue, ‘opposition to the elections system which gave one man one vote without paying attention to local imperative issues such as fighting corruption and this resulted in many nationalists turning to the government in the belief the government ‘hell’ is better than the opposition ‘paradise’ because these nationalists believe many opportunists have managed to penetrate the ranks of the opposition.
“As a matter of fact, the nationalistic opposition is always the nearest to the pulse of the street and this opposition is qualified to rectify the public action if it is committed to many specific procedures to correct and avert the mistakes that may beset public action.
“And because this opposition has managed to sideline some members who are MPs whose actions are controlled by a remote by a third party, this development has boosted the hopes of this opposition and is likely to enjoy the confidence of the nation.
“However, in spite of this hope which has been attached to the opposition in question, in reality it has still to adopt a specific nationalistic project to rescue the country from its negativity, particularly since we know the nation no longer attaches hopes to the so-called annulled opposition, because the latter has accumulated a lot of internal problems and its members are biased to their personal issues at the expense of public issues.
“In this context, we suggest, let us imagine if this opposition manages to get over the oneman, one-vote or one-man, four-votes complex and develops its project to build the State institutions and complete the constitutional guarantees that might be required to ‘install’ a popular government and turn their backs to conflicts with some Sheikhs and the related battles.
“In other words, this opposition must direct its activities towards the endorsement of the bills to legalize the political groups in the country in addition to the endorsement of a draft law to force every senior official — minister, MP, undersecretary, director-general and so on — in the country to reveal his/her financial status immediately after appointment in senior positions.
“Apart from the above, this opposition must concentrate on the importance of enacting a specific law to warrant the independence of the judiciary in addition to the endorsement of the transparency draft law.
“The opposition must also declare and make it clear that any address or opinion that is attributed to any of its members which is rife with sectarian, tribal and denominational sentiments does not represent it and as such the relevant address or opinion will be deemed as null and void.
“In other words, this opposition must adopt only the respectful opinions and speeches which are void of instigation, abuse and provocation against others.
“However, if this happened, then everybody in the country will not hesitate to support this nationalistic project which shall constitute the sole standardization for supporting any other project.” Also: “The Constitutional Court is likely to deliver its verdict on the appeals that have filed concerning several verdicts that have been issued by lower courts in general and over the emergency decree that gave one man one vote in particular and if this happened, then the current arguments over the pertinent issues will come
to an end,” columnist and attorney Rashed Al
Rada’an wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily Sunday.
“Likewise, the pardon to waive all cases that were filed earlier against the youth from the popular movement are likely to be waived as in the past, because this political move will inevitably come to an end and in this case we shall return to square one.
“But the most dangerous thing which constitutes a real threat to the community is the security situation in the country and this is evident because of a high rate of the number of crimes in the country. Add to this, the unemployment problem and the shortage in universities to accommodate students of both sexes.
“As a matter of fact, the country since a long time, has been paralyzed and this can be attributed to the fact that the government doesn’t like to work seriously because it uses all its efforts to counter the opposition and foil its plans.
“In this context, we have observed that the government under the existence of one-man, one-vote National Assembly still ignores the MPs while the latter are striving to grill ministers to prove their presence in the country’s political life and record some attitudes that can give them credit during the forthcoming parliamentary elections. This happens although we were optimistic following the election of the incumbent Assembly.”
“Violence and crimes in Kuwait have been increasing at an alarming rate, worrying the concerned State agencies and families. Apparently, fights have become part of any gathering, whether in the commercial complex or anywhere else, where we often witness brawls for trivial reasons,” columnist Retired Major General Hamad Al-Sareei wrote for AlAnba daily.
“Fights can easily be avoided, especially those caused by insignificant incidents like when you leave something on a table in any restaurant to indicate that it is occupied and you find out someone occupied it once you come back from a few minutes stroll or when someone starts making passes at women in the mall. It seems some people wake up with the intention of stirring up a fight as a form of personal achievement to brag about in front of their friends.
“Many seminars have been held to discuss the increasing rate of violence among the youths. Most of the time, the families that leave their children unmonitored or those who encourage them to take action with their own hands if they get crossed by someone, are blamed. However, the concerned State agencies also share the blame for not actively implementing the laws concerning juveniles, and in some cases, for imposing light punishments.
“What happened in Sharjah was disheartening and I hope the perpetrators will be dealt with accordingly. The more we continue to let go of crimes unpunished, the more the juveniles will engage in violent acts.”
“The new National Assembly is strange and odd. It tries in haste to accomplish goals to boost its record. Thus, its members launch statements at random on the pages of newspapers and expect these statements will place them on top of the political scene,” Mubarak
Mohammad Al-Hajeri wrote for Al-Rai daily. “The current Parliament is just like the previous one and will not know how to fulfill the desires of voters. It’s clear this Assembly will not be able to make any meaningful achievement because the Parliament’s agenda, for instance, is full of chronic issues, of which the housing problem many citizens are facing through the domination of real estate traders, while the government keeps launching useless statements on this issue. I wonder the kind of achievement the citizens will make under this kind of Parliament.”
“Today’s article is about the Arab Republic of Egypt with the spotlight particularly on the Great Nile. Its lights, which had covered the skies of Cairo and other governorates, have become dim,” columnist Jassem Mohammad
Al-Tunaib wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily. “This light attracted tourists from all parts of the world with the intention of enjoying the luxury of sighting Egypt. The Pharaohs enjoyed the privilege of having Nile as their secret for ruling the great country. However, many tourists, who used to visit Egypt to see the Nile and antiques of the Pharaohs known for bequeathing immortal civilization in the history, have abandoned the Nile lately.
“Unfortunately, Egypt has lost its beautiful touch that used to attract tourists from all over the world. The country has lost its beauty and does not impart the happiness and delight that people used to experience when they entered the place.
“Egypt, ‘The Mother of the World’ has been looking for the lost democracy, freedom, justice and equality since the Jan 25, 2011 Revolution. Therefore, people have to take relentless efforts in organizing tours to Egypt in order for the beautiful life to return to the country and the Nile to smile again at the tourists.”
“Some Iranians and an Afghani infiltrated into the country through Kuwait’s territorial waters, so the officers from the Coast Guard arrested and referred them to the administrative office before detaining them in the cell for prosecution,” columnist Waleed Abdullah Al
Ghanim wrote for Al-Qabas daily. “However, the detained suspects tricked the security officers who were guarding the cell and escaped into thin air (according to AlQabas report on 27/2/2013). I can hardly imagine what prompted Iranians to infiltrate into Kuwait through the sea at a time when the Gulf Forces were carrying out military drills on Kuwaiti waters and Failaka Island.
“It would have been much more reasonable to say one or two of the detainees escaped by “I don’t know the relationship between the one-vote Assembly and Government, despite some members of the Parliament have declared openly that the Assembly is not fulfilling the expectations of the people,” Muhammad
Ghareeb Hatim wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily.
“For sure, the current National Assembly is rejected by majority of the people, and this can be verified in diwaniyas-particularly after the current Parliament has declined to solve the issue of debts cancellation and the parliament now engages itself in a new concept known as ‘session of achievements’.
“When it comes to achievements, the executive authority is the one that achieves or fails depending on its programs, and not the National Assembly that plays the role of supervising government’s performance in the execution of its programs.
“Now that grilling has been suspended, how would the members of Parliament perform their duties and supervise government’s performance? Our new members of Parliament, all you have now is aspiration!” tricking the so-called security guards, but the escape of all the suspects from the cells of the Coast Guard in that manner seem mysterious. Such kind of irresponsibility should not even been contemplated in any situation.”
“Members of the nullified majority should stop using the slogan ‘Freedom of opinion and speech’ when they are the ones who transgress and instigate their followers to do the same. However, when transgression happens to them, they are the first to call foul”, columnist Talal
Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily. “A good example is, when an individual expresses his opinion on Twitter that displeases nullified majority members, they immediately press charges against that individual.
“Another example is one of their ‘Friends in struggle’ who went to jail because of a lawsuit filed by them, forgetting the slogans that they used such as Prisoners of Opinion and Political Prisoners, when they are the ones who propagate transgression to the extent of offending the highest authority in the country without any sound justification.
“All we have to do is wait for the hidden matters to be disclosed due to conflicts among the members. However, many youths unfortunately were sacrificed by them and subjected to law after they were used as fodder for the movement. Some of them were deceived with the slogans that made them believe they hold the keys to salvation and redemption. However, their realization occurred a little too late.
“This issue still exists and the leaders of this immature unstable movement cannot salvage the youths from the mess. They backed out to keep their slates clean, thinking that the people of Kuwait do not know what they have been doing. The only beneficiary is the Muslim Brotherhood movement but it needs to know that there are issues which the people of Kuwait never miss to see and apprehend.”
“While undergoing trial for a State Security case filed against me in 2010, the Special Forces team, consisting of six members, used to transport me from the Central Jail to the Justice Palace. I was handcuffed and there were weapons in their hands. They covered my head with a black cloth which they removed only when I entered the palace,” columnist Mohammad Abdulqadir Al-Jassem wrote for Al-Kuwaitiyah daily.
“In the Justice Palace, the six officers detained me in an individual cell while waiting for my case to be called. When my turn came, I was ushered into the court room and then inside a closed area for the accused, still with handcuffs. I once asked the judge to stand trial outside the closed area, a request he reluctantly accepted.
“The judge also granted my request to talk, during which I told him that the people, who established Kuwait’s judiciary, were against treating a suspect like a criminal based on the principle, ‘Innocent until proven guilty’. However, the Penal Law enacted in 1960 has not had any significant amendment to be in line with the latest developments in the human rights field which ensures fair trial for the accused according to international prosecution standards.’’
“The crime rate in Kuwait has increased remarkably and the most unusual aspect of the issue is the inability of the authorities to identify the criminals. It seems all traces disappear after the criminal act is committed, making it more difficult to address the problem,” Talal
Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily. “For instance, those who steal cars sell the loot immediately or separate the parts that are then sold to different people or shops. With this practice, it is hard for the authorities to recover the stolen vehicles and to identify the thieves. Most of the thieves work in the junk shops and come from a certain country.
“Unless the authorities intensify efforts to arrest the thieves, they will continue robbing others without fear. Results of a study conducted earlier on the rising crime rate in the country showed that 13 thefts are reported daily and many have not been registered. The least the authorities can do is to coordinate their efforts to at least reduce, if not eradicate, crimes in our society. Citizens no longer feel safe; hence, the need to address the problem quickly.”
“Caliph Omar Bin Khattab posed a question more than a thousand years ago, ‘How can you treat people as slaves if they were born free?’ If we ask the same question in relation to the current situation in the Arab and Islamic nations, we can say everything has turned upside down because these nations used to lead the world,” Gouleifis Bin Akshan wrote for AlShahed daily.
“In the past, Arabs were wise, honest and just. Even an ordinary person has the right to correct the leader if he committed a mistake without fear of telling the truth. At the time, the Islamic world served as a guide in people’s search for peace and justice, which made the Muslims proud of their nations.
“However, everything disappeared when the intentions and behaviors changed, especially when the people prioritized money and power. The Muslims became less valuable in front of others who took advantage of the situation and took over the leading positions.
“As long as we clamor for money and power, we will never achieve our development goals. It is now time for us to change our mentality and behaviors to develop the society before we even think about reclaiming our past glory.”