‘Theorizing is not political act’

‘Scenario not very promising’

“THERE is no disagreement between any two about the worsening political situation in Kuwait, whether at the level of government performance or parliamentary performance or even at the level of politics in general,” columnist wrote for

daily. “The political situation and its deterioration is not the subject of any dispute. Some adopt a method of permanent criticism and grumbling because for them this is the door for relief and expressing their anger, as the general public may have only to express their dissatisfaction at these conditions, and this is very natural and legitimate.

“The problem lies not in individuals who are accustomed to complaining because they have no other way to show their displeasures. The problem lies in the politicians who portray themselves as part of the solution and leader in society but their empty talk does not offer any solution to the problem other than repeating the same political terms in the belief they can fool the common man that they are addressing the deteriorating political situation.

“Two events took place this week. The first was the announcement of the formation of a new political movement in Kuwait, the announcement of its Board of Trustees and the formation and distribution of positions in this Board of Directors. The second was the publication of a signed statement by several politicians and academics to draw a roadmap for political solution.

“In Kuwait, there are dozens of political currents and blocs, some of which are well-known, and some are forgotten, most of these currents are a simple group of individuals who take for them a ‘big’ name and form a board of directors and a secretariat general. Often, their cadres and social and political orientations are a very small number of individuals, their only work is to issue theoretical statements during some events and seize opportunities for personal benefits.

“Theorizing is not a political act; it is an area for the people to show their anger at times, which is the way of writers and some intellectuals who put forward their ideas. The political work of those who want to present themselves within this area must be practical in how to face the problems of the political situation. The practical result is the criterion of political action, not just theory.

“Sometimes I know that most interested people can only produce such statements or create such gatherings, and consider them a better step than remaining silent. This may be true, but the result is not a political act at all, it is just a ‘vent’ of internal anger.”

Al-Sabti

“If the principles of democracy were taught for the kindergarten children, the title of their first lesson would be ‘There is no democracy without political parties’. If the first year law students were asked about democracy based on the principle of accountability each one of them would keep an eye on the other to ensure there is no dominion and the obvious answer would be ‘democracy does not exist without the party system’,” columnist wrote for daily.

“Speaking of the Kuwaiti democracy and our pride in front of its Gulf sisters is largely empty especially if we look at our achievements in recent years, and after the defeat of the Arab Spring, and the subsequent excessive repressive brutality, most of the Arab caliphate countries except for Tunisia and Lebanon, we have little to cheer, so we Kuwaitis who boast about our democracy must remain humble. We say your democracy is nothing but ‘one-eyed’ in the midst of the blind. So have mercy on yourself and have mercy on us.

“We need not use the dictionary to look for the meaning of democracy or the freedom of parties or the party system, but the stubbornness and the insistence of the authority to refuse to talk on any topic that is related to the freedom of party work.

“The result is that Kuwait’s quasi-democratic monster was fallen apart systematically year after year, until the state constitution became mere words on a piece of paper that has no truth in it. It was not a progressive constitution, perhaps also relatively at the time of its birth, but the fact is that it was a fabrication by a family that wanted to monopolize the rule and commercial powers that carried a great heritage in the foundations in the construction of past Kuwait.

“The Constitution was primarily born as a result of external circumstances accompanied by the vision and wisdom of the great Abdullah Al-Salem, and the circulation of power, and the real participation in the power of governance was just words of political hypocrisy.

“The occasion of the previous talk is that there is no occasion other than despair and indifference in the case of the deterioration of freedoms and democracy and the prevalence of corruption in all forms witnessed by the state today.

“The sad occasion now, is the response of the Supreme Judicial Council to a question of a number of deputies calling for legislation for freedom of party work. Why does this council express its opinion on something that is not essentially within its jurisdiction?

“Your task is to look into disputes as a principle and to set the general criteria for setting the limits of each authority constitutionally when the legislative and executive branches are at odds, but for a political opinion that is expected to be heard by virtue of the historical custom of the executive, the government which is undisputedly dominated by the ruling family. This is inconceivable.”

“Long time ago, when I was the Director General of Ahmadi Investigations Department, a young man was being blackmailed by an ill-reputed woman whose husband was in Central Prison on a drugrelated case,” wrote for

daily. “She had three daughters and a son who followed his father’s footsteps and became a drug addict. The eldest daughter was divorced based on orders directed to her by her mother. The second daughter was then 24 years old and the third was 15 years old.

“That mother earned her living by selling her daughters for immoral activities. She then got an idea to earn more money. She decided to push her youngest daughter to contact a young man and go on dates with him. Every time the daughter went on a date, the mother would rush to the police station and file a kidnap lawsuit. Securitymen would search for the young man, interrogate him and refer him to the Public Prosecution. Then the mother would contact the family of the young man and blackmail them, demanding KD 3,000 to drop the case against their family member.

“The mother repeated this process three times. After the fourth time, we conducted intensive investigations and interrogated the daughter who revealed the truth to us. The woman was summoned and she was referred to the Public Prosecution on the accusation of forcing her daughters to commit immoral actions for money.

“Nowadays, with the spread of social media, we are noticing some suspicious accounts incite controversial issues and direct some provocative questions. When some citizens reply using insulting phrases, unaware of the relevant laws, the blogger then records the offensive remarks and complains to the Public Prosecution. He then starts blackmailing the victim, demanding about KD 2,000 to drop the complaint. In some cases, the victim is underage but the parents pay the money out of fear of a lawsuit being filed against their child.

“The National Assembly is asked to make laws for protecting individuals and families from such blackmail crimes, which remind me of that ill-reputed woman.”

“As I and others have previously said, we used to see advertisements of candidates everywhere during the days of the parliamentary elections as well as the spread of luxurious electoral centers with food and beverages delivered by five-star hotels,” Muhammad Al-Washihi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Sadly, those electoral centers had everything including greetings, hugs and delicious meals but no serious discussions on the candidate’s program. There was nothing to reveal that we witnessed a real symposium.

“We thought that some candidates adopted such an attitude based on their desire to reveal their wealth or to portray themselves as millionaires, giving the impression that they are ready to purchase votes at good prices. The problem is that this attitude was adopted by candidates who aimed to introduce themselves as intellectuals who have personal experiences. It is really ridiculous.

“This issue brings to mind the situation of the elected president of Tunisia Qais Saeed who refused the money provided by the state to the candidates for supporting electoral campaigns. He also refused to place his pictures along the streets, and spend money for providing dinners to the attendees of his meetings. He rejected all such luxurious actions.

“Yes, some of his supporters volunteered by installing his pictures along some streets but their attitude was based on their own free will and not based on any request from Saeed. On the other hand, we observed the exaggerated expenditures for the electoral campaign of his opponent in terms of using the media as his opponent owned a TV channel.

“In conclusion, if the voters are given the chance to choose their candidate neutrally and based on just means, there will be no need for such electoral carnivals.”

“We usually see pictures on social media about a surprise visit by a government official in one of his or her departments. However, in reality, when you look at those pictures, there is nothing that inspires the surprise behind such visits,” wrote for daily.

“Usually, this type of visitations or rather inspections are aimed at creating a news content for the media, irrespective of the process that it takes to ensure the outcome of the pictures are satisfactory to the public.

“The end result is actually to shade light on the deterioration of performance in some of the public institutions through which such visitations can cover all aspects of negligence in any given institution.

“We all want officials who work sincerely and seriously, not the ones who ogle for media attention. I wish every official has a specific day to conduct such visitations and inspections away from cameras in order to be able to fully grasp the challenges facing the work, employees and clients. Perhaps, this will improve the performance of the employees and win the confidence and satisfaction of the clients.”

“There is a very important question that has been left answered for a long time – Is the interpellation and oversight on the government performance crippling the development and progress in this country?”

wrote for daily. “There is someone irrational in terms of interpellation. The government could get bored of the interpellation. This is acceptable and rational to some point. However, the irrational aspect is to hear that the MPs are getting bored of posing parliamentary questions and interpellations.

“The main mandate of the parliament is to keep the government on its toes in terms of its performance because there are a lot that need oversight.

“Therefore, it is unimaginable for the parliament to get bored of carrying out its duties as stipulated in the Constitution. Perhaps, this kind of approach in the parliamentary work is what is making the government jitter when it hears about interpellations, although such interpellations never reach the desirable level in terms of its outcome.”

“The return of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Kuwait after undergoing treatment abroad is not only an opportunity to celebrate with joy, but also an important occasion to sigh with relief about the national cohesion and unity,” wrote for

daily. “This occasion should kick-start work to intensify efforts towards serious reforms, and to diagnose areas of flaws in the government’s policies which have left a huge legacy of flaccidity and deterioration as per various success and development indexes, in addition to the increase in and retrogression of corruption.

“Perhaps, rendering this joyous occasion as a launch-pad for a better tomorrow could be the best present to give to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait from a nation that loves him equally as the way it loves Kuwait. We pray to the Almighty for the safe return of our leader. May the Almighty grant our Amir good health and more success in his endeavor.”

– Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli