‘Adopt short-term reforms for windfall’
‘Geo-political events play major role’
“THE government cannot be blamed if it announces a real deficit in the 2019/2018 budget,” columnist Mohammad Hazza’a Al-Mutairi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“This is because Kuwait is part and parcel of the Gulf States and Moody’s Credit Rating Agency has shown a negative outlook for sovereign funds in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states this year.
“However, taking a quick look at this report most governments in the region will continue to record a large fiscal deficit where this shall coincide with the debts services or the so-called debts burdens which will be recorded over the next 12 to 18 months.
“The report also said that the main reasons for this gloomy outlook come from the risk of increased geopolitical events that will play a significant role in determining the sovereign credit quality during 2018.
“Meanwhile, Moody’s also predicted that the Gulf countries will record an average fiscal deficit of around 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this and next year, which will contribute to rising debt levels and a decline in the financial reserves of most countries in this part of the world.
“Having read this pessimistic report, the projected deficit for the next budget will be a real deficit, not a fabricated deficit, and the concerned authorities must rush to control the expenditures, stop waste and searching for alternatives to help protect our economy from deteriorating.
“In this context, we mentioned in a previous article about some quick steps that can be implemented and come with quick positive results within a short-term program capable of achieving the demand in the short term.
“Today we add to the importance of working to reduce some expenses in government agencies, the codification of external missions and courses that are not effective or urgent, and the closure of the faucets quickly.
“Anyway, this program should be based on increasing the fees which may benefit from the state properties. But today, we would like to add to the importance of working to reduce some charges payable by the government authorities and eventually minimize the foreign tasks as well as the non-vital or non-urgent training courses and close the money squandering tap as swiftly as possible.
“And because waiting for the implementation of economic reforms requires a long time within the vision of 2035, it is needless to say the region and surprises are unpredictable.
“Hence, the priority is to carry out less expensive short-term reform programs and sacrifices with a rapid income and this is what the State should hasten to do as swiftly as possible, because the topic no longer requires study or longer thinking, rather requires only a decision.”
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“I think the politicians are exaggerating through their consecutive warnings and instilling fear in the hearts of the people by talking about the downtrend in the oil prices saying it will bring bankruptcy and poverty,” columnist and former MP Dr Abdurrahman Al-Jeeran wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“As a matter of fact, these warnings can be issued only by an ignorant person who is the victim of economic reports which are pure material factor because these reports have ignored the dogmatic aspect which says bread is given by the Almighty God and this is His will and wisdom.
“In this context, Kuwaitis by virtue of the God have lived for many decades prior to the discovery of oil longer than that preceded the discovery of oil during which they have been striving throughout our planet to earn their livelihood and as such are for time they being they are going ahead to complete their march.
“In his book ‘The Globalization Irony’ the author Dani Rodrick, says the extremism of some people in an attempt to completely liberalize foreign trade eventually opened the door for the movement of capitals.
“He hinted this will inevitably lead to a collision among the socially ingrained classifications and genuine communal basics with the requirements of the globalization, but in this case, priority must be given to the national demands.
“For the time being, the world economy suffers from a crisis and the winds of this crisis have hit the strongest economies in the world, and then found its way to the Euro states and infiltrated into all the remaining countries of the world, but this has resulted in some countries like Spain and Greece paying the price of austerity measures where which were imposed on them by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“It is needless to say the essence of the current economic crisis is closely linked to the political aspect or with the nature of the rule and its manner.
“In other words, the manner followed to manage the economy based on the capitalistic intellectual basis, the latter represents the first axis of the existing economy based on such a philosophy that ‘The state rules but doesn’t possesses’ or on the principle of ‘let him work — let him pass’.
“Apart from the above, the capitalist economy led by the United States is based on the principle of privatization, free trade and the marginalization of the role of the State and this has resulted in shutting down part of the federal government in addition to the termination of the services of a group of employees.
“This has also resulted in throwing the poor out onto the streets of both the Republican and Democratic parties. As such a call is issued by the sound minded people for a crucial and swift intervention to prevent the economy from slipping through the fingers and into the whirlpool of a chain of collapses which have befallen the global markets throughout history.”
“We were full of hope when she — an educated and cultured woman with bold opinions and a nice smile — stood for the parliamentary elections,” Dala’a Al Mufti wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“After some time, MP Safa Al-Hashem started shocking us nonstop starting with the expatriates on whom she placed the blame for all the evils in the world. Most recent of her moves was a proposal that will never come to the mind of even the US President Donald Trump.
“Why can’t the expatriate widow of a Kuwaiti husband keep her acquired citizenship after his death and then pass her citizenship to her children from her new expatriate husband? Safa Al-Hashem said the same about divorcees even though the laws do not allow passing their citizenship to their children.
“In order to help her get out of the dilemma concerning the pollution expected to affect the pure Kuwaiti blood, I am going to present the following suggestions to Al-Hashem with the hope that she might choose the most appropriate from them.
“I suggest that the widow of a Kuwaiti husband should be put in a glass box and placed in museums with a note ‘Do not touch, else citizenship will fall’.
“I suggest that widows should stay inside caves that are isolated where they focus only on worshipping Allah and stick to monasticism so that we can ensure that they never marry again.
“I suggest we get rid of widows by a quick, prompt and cheap way represented by firing a single bullet into their heads. This will cost the State Treasury nothing other than the price of one bullet, the coffin and the grave; that’s all. Indeed I have a better suggestion. Why not burn them alive like the ancient Hindu tradition as a way to depict her eternal love, loyalty and devotion?
“Marriage between a citizen and a foreigner is not something that happens just in Kuwait but it is seen everywhere in the world. It is true that it happens for many reasons varied from true love, financial benefit, and citizenship.
“It is offensive to Kuwaiti men to say that foreigners agree to marry them only for benefiting financially or to obtain Kuwaiti citizenship as though Kuwaiti men have nothing to offer but money and citizenship. Kuwait has witnessed marriages between male citizens including ministers and MPs, and ordinary citizens, and such marriages are mostly successful.
“We have to remember that all nations are a mix of different ethnics and we all are expatriates. The difference is only in the ‘when’ factor.”
“In most of our mosques, expatriates constitute majority of the worshippers without any exception. Therefore, we ask Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to build mosques for expatriates as well as for Kuwaitis. Normally, such a claim is madness and inconsistent with the provisions of Sharia and humanity,” Meshal Al-Dhufairi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Expatriates are being subjected to severe organized attacks as though they are the cause of our problems. Unfortunately, the greed of some traders and people with bad souls are the reason behind the presence of marginal workers in Kuwait. These workers are victims of greedy traders who lured them by claiming that Kuwait is a paradise with dinars under the rocks and in the air. These poor souls came to Kuwait after paying huge sums of money that they saved for years and borrowing debts in order to build a good future for them and their families. As soon as they arrived here, they were faced with the bitter truth. The fiction came to an end as soon as they arrived in Kuwait, and they were forced to work in any kind of jobs in order to earn at least part of the money that they paid in order to come to Kuwait.
“There are many expatriates who hold technical and administrative jobs in Kuwait and benefited the Kuwaiti society.
“I am in support of any move to confront residency traders and deport marginal workers who harm national security. However, it is unfair to attack expatriates randomly without conducting necessary intensive studies.
“Also, the state institutions must inform them at least two years in advance before terminating their contracts so that they have sufficient time to settle their matters.”
“The world always pays huge prices for the recklessness and foolishness of its people. For example, the Germans paid the price for Hitler’s foolishness, but here in Kuwait, we pay for the folly of so many people who manage to get into positions that give them the right to hurt the feelings of others!? Seriously, we have been deceived by appearances,” Amina Al-Ali wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“MP Safa Al-Hashim says naturalized expatriate women married to Kuwaitis should be stripped off their Kuwaiti nationality after the death of their husbands or after divorce. This is aimed to ensure they do not demand the naturalization of their sons from their new expatriate husbands. Supposedly, Minister of Interior will be called for discussion on this subject.
“If the honorable MP was familiar with the Kuwaiti law, she would know that a naturalized Kuwaiti woman, whether she is a widow or divorcee, is not permitted by law to grant Kuwaiti nationality to her non-Kuwaiti children except if her nationality is established originally as per first article!
“I am curious to know on whose behalf is she working — the benefit of the media?! I say to all very honestly — When a man discovers racism precedes his logic, he begins with the use of chaotic words that aim at polishing his shameful and sad attitude.”