‘Time alters humans, states status’

‘Divided GCC vulnerable to collapse’

“THE fortunes of the nations of the world fluctuate from good to bad and vice versa,” columnist and former Kuwaiti ambassador Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily. “This phenomenon is known in economics area where the damage does not last forever and so also the good standard of living also does not last for good. In other words, as long as the situation of a human being is subject to fluctuations, the same is applicable to the states.

“Take for example, the State of Kuwait in the 1960s and the 1970s when the country witnessed the economic boom followed the drastic Souk Al-Manakh Crisis (in 1982) and the related slump but the country, post liberation witnessed a semi revival.

“Speaking of the United States of America, this country in the 1930s witnessed the so-called Great Depression or economic downturn in the history and this created a high percentage of unemployment among the Americans.

“But following the US participation in the World War II along with then allies against the Nazi Germany, the country (US) witnessed an economic recovery at the end of the war in 1945, particularly in the automobile and movies industries.

“Meanwhile, we say although Japan was destroyed during the World War II, this country post the war made a significant recovery.

“The former Soviet Union was a strong country, but the union fell apart and gave birth to different republics at the beginning of the 1990s.

“With regard to Germany, this was so strong that it occupied many European countries (during World War II), but it was defeated later and was divided into East and West Germany. But it started enjoying a strong economy following the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

“Speaking of Vietnam, this county was destroyed following the downfall of Saigon in 1975 at the end of the war (between the then North Vietnam and the US).

“However, in spite of the above, this country witnessed renaissance post the said war to such an extent it has grown into one of the Asian tigers. In other words, it has fast developed.

“Speaking of Britain, this country was a superpower and occupied many countries throughout the world, but it started retreating and isolated itself and we see how the people of Scotland (which represent part of the United Kingdom) want to declare their independence from Great Britain, but the topic of independence has been postponed.

“With regard to Europe, this continent, suffered from backwardness during the Middle Ages and they fought among themselves followed by peace and then crowned by union.

“Speaking of some Arab states such as Iraq, Egypt and Yemen, they were kingdoms and saw renaissance at all levels but when they witnessed coups their situations changed and steadily deteriorated. It is needless to say this deterioration will persists given the fluctuating situations. However, we hope – God willing – the Arab world will see a better future.

“Speaking of the African Continent including Rwanda, it suffered as a result of backwardness, but now it is making a steady progress.

“Speaking of Ethiopia, it was suffering from famine and military rule, but the situation is gradually changing and Addis Ababa is now better than before.

“Speaking of Venezuela, this Latin American country, in the past was stable and rich in natural wealth – oil and rivers – in addition to tourism, but the economy has collapsed and this can be attributed to mismanagement to such an extent some Venezuelans are currently finding it very difficult to make ends meet and even suffer from hunger and hundreds of thousands of them have escaped to the neighboring countries seeking refuge and better life.

“With regard to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, we earlier praised our stability but the situations have changed and this is evident given the difference between some GCC members and Qatar and the GCC can no longer be called coherent.”

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Al-Dawas

“In his first Friday sermon in 8 years, the Iranian spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, addressed his followers in Persian and Arabic,” columnist wrote for daily.

“This happened after significant events in Tehran in the past few days, and this event gives his speech important indications, especially the many messages it carried to different parties.

“One of the significant aspects in Khamenei’s sermon was his emphasis on the unity among the Iranians in addition to encouraging the Iranians to participate in parliamentary elections which will be held next month because these elections will determine the country’s future.

“However, the Iranians are waiting to see the final list of candidates to the upcoming parliamentary elections after it is endorsed by the Iranian Constitution Guardian Council and whether it will have the names of reformists.

“Khamenei also touched on Iranian-Iraqi relations, describing the fight launched by Qassem Soleimani and his comrades as a protection for Iran’s security, because the ultimate goal of the United States in providing armies there is to target Iran.

“As for Khamenei’s foreign messages, or if his ‘nuclear messages’ so to speak, the spiritual leader, stressed in his speech that ‘Iran does not oppose negotiations with anyone except America’, and this practically does not mean that it is not possible to negotiate with America, even indirectly through other parties.

“In this connection, we believe the topic of the negotiations that was included in Khamenei’s recent sermon is the most significant although this aspect of the sermon was not clear.

“On the part of the Europeans, perhaps the most important statement in the past few days came out through the French Foreign Minister, when he said, ‘the only solution to the Iranian crisis is Tehran’s approval of talks on a new broad agreement and the easing of sanctions’.

“In conclusion, we say it is Iran which has repeatedly emphasized that it will get involved in any type of negotiations under the current sanctions as such it will not be involved in any negotiations with America.

“However, given the above, Iran doesn’t in principle reject the negotiations over the Nuclear Deal, rather it has linked these negotiations to a condition calling for lifting the sanctions and this is what is contained in the French proposal.

For its part, the United States, doesn’t reject negotiations with Iran, because Washington’s declared objective, aims at changing the current Nuclear Deal, as such we suggest the best solution for dealing with the relevant crisis will be represented by indirect negotiations between America and Iran with an undertaking by the former to ease the sanctions imposed on the latter prior to the endorsement of the relevant deal in its final text.”

“I am surprised at those who claim that Iran, and whoever represents it, brought out and defeated ISIS , as we know very well that ISIS and Iran are two sides of the same coin, both of which have caused severe harm to the true Islam”, wrote for

daily. “The odd the matter, which is also one of the funny laughs that ISIS- as I mentioned to you in more than one article, is American made through Zionist sponsorship and Iranian coordination. President Trump confirmed this in a speech where he said that president Obama represented by Hillary Clinton is the one who created or made “ISIS”.

“We may recall how Clinton confirmed this in one of her articles. How can someone who wants us to believe that Soleimani defeated ISIS appear to us this way today? What happened, gentlemen, is that the ISIS job is over. Islam has been distorted enough and the largest Islamic faction has been demonized and pursued in all parts of the world.

“The work of preachers and reformers has been curtailed in most Islamic countries, and the work of Sunni charities has become suspicious. It is restricted by many measures and nobody dares to follow or monitor other charitable works related to Islam or other religions. In other words, ISIS successfully accomplished its mission, so it’s time to get rid of it and they killed Al-Baghdadi, whom we only saw in photos with the Zionists.

“When they got rid of “ISIS”, it was necessary to get rid of the other element that knows the mysteries of the game, its secrets and the parties involved, so the decision to get rid of Soleimani who was the link between the Americans and Iran. Trump’s decision to get rid of Soleimani came at the start of his impeachment in America for betraying the oath of office. We have been witnesses to marches in many American cities calling for the impeachment of Trump, so it was necessary for Trump to look for something to boost his popularity, and this dangerous decision came.

“Today, America, led by Trump, will hold an orgy as they wish, killing whoever they want and winning for whomever they want in order to preserve his Presidency and party in power, especially as few months remain for the presidential elections. Otherwise, the Zionist entity will start the orgy, killing, destruction and displacement of Palestinians – no less than Iran has done in many locations within the region. However, the interests of the White House here differ there, and this is the bottom line!”

“A Kuwaiti submitted a question to the Fatwa Committee at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs seeking the opinion of Islam about participating in the public subscription of two companies whose securities were floated recently. The committee said participating in that subscription is prohibited (haram) since it violates Islamic provisions. The committee supported its response with evidence,” columnist Mubarak Fahd Al-Duwailah wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“A number of secularist figures in Kuwait, who have plenty of leisure time, reacted to the fatwa which said nothing but usury is haram. “They started to expose their ignorance and simple way of thinking. One of them said Kuwait is a secular State, not religious. Another said Kuwait adopts constitutional governance, not religious. A third inquired if we live in a State within a State. A fourth intellectual figure wondered how the fatwa ignored the fact that the employees receive their salaries from a State which invests in usury.

“Let us disprove the abovementioned objections one by one. First of all, the second article of the Kuwaiti Constitution stipulates that Islam is the religion of the State. Thus, Kuwait is not a secularist State. According to the Constitution, Islam is the main resource of legislation. “Therefore, it is normal that the Legislation and Fatwa Committee derives its opinions from Islamic Sharia, not from Aristotle or Plato. “What is the reason behind the astonishment over the fatwa which prohibits usury adopted by these companies then? Moreover, it is well known that the fatwa is not compulsory. The committee did its duty and the citizens are free to commit to religion or violate it.

“One important issue I want to stress is that the employees receive their salaries out of oil revenues, not out of the gains from investing these revenues.

“Kuwaiti people are Muslims and they like to commit to what is allowed (halal) and avoid what is prohibited (haram). This is the reason behind the fury of the secularists when they faced this fact which they like to deny. The essential question now is: Why does the government prevent a large number of citizens who are keen on investing in halal business and provides investment for the other party who do not care where to invest? Is it not more important to amend the law on establishing the two companies as it was suggested by a number of MPs in order to provide equal opportunities for citizens?”

“If we assume that His Highness the Prime Minister wanted to meet or discuss or even fulfill the demands of the protesters in the Erada Square last week, who should he meet?” And which issue is on top of their agenda?” columnist, former MP and General Manager of Scope Satellite TV, wrote for daily.

“All the requests are papers scattered all over the place and more than one big issue was raised, each of which needs an integrated work program.

“They raised the subject of naturalization, the bedoun and nationality all of which are significant to the people who took part in the sit-in. They highlighted the problems, not solutions.

“The subject of dropping loans was also raised without a vision consistent with the reality that can be adopted by the government. They proposed to stop aiding and giving loans to countries even through the Development Fund and instead use the fund money to offset the debts of the Kuwaitis as if this can be done by the stroke of a pen, knowing that the development fund has been financing itself from the premiums received by the borrowing nations.

“The issue of corruption and corrupt was raised and nobody mentioned a single name that could be investigated or be accounted for by the Anti-Corruption Authority.

“The biggest problem is that the protesters demanded the ouster of Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouk Al-Ghanim and I do not know what should the government do with such demands?”

“While the National Assembly is expected to grill today, Minister of Social Affairs, Dr Ghadeer Asiri, following a request filed in this regard by MP Adel Al-Damkhi, we must ask when the Minister began her work as a minister to hold her for accountability in such a short time,” columnist wrote for daily.

“Undoubtedly, the interpellation is an important tool for accountability. It is the right of the deputy to use it whenever he deems it necessary against any minister if he/she is found negligent in his/her duty.

“This important tool is not a means to execute ministers politically, which requires legalization and resorting to it in major national issues, and distancing from using it as a means to liquidate political opponents and defame the ministers or topple them because of some ‘dispute’.

“It is noticed recently that some deputies are now using the language of the threat of interrogation in the case of every incoming and outgoing minister, thus weakening the meaning of this tool to the point rendering it sometimes ‘useless’.

“We believe that the conflict between the two authorities is useless and of no benefit to the citizen, but a waste of time because more often than not it is used for settling marginal issues that are evident through parliamentary questioning.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb