‘Govt, Assembly must bury the hatchet, work for country’
“KUWAITIS were happy about the new era that began with the assumption of HH the Amir, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, the reins of power, the election of a new National Assembly and the formation of a new government and the ceiling of hopes and aspirations of the citizens soared sky high,” columnist Mishari Al-Matraqa wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Tension between the two authorities, and signs of competition emerged through what the opening session witnessed during the election of the Speaker of Parliament, and after that the session to elect members to the Parliament committees, and a tug-of-war broke out between a number of MPs and the government, until an interrogation was filed against HH the Prime Minister, and the government ‘boycotted’ the session.
“Of course this has resulted in lack of clarity in the vision during the coming period, especially the Constitutional Court set its session to January 20 to examine the appeals demanding the nullification of the 2020 elections.
“The government has submitted its resignation after boycotting the last session of the National Assembly and the failure of its ministers to attend the parliamentary committees’ meetings, and the state of political obstinacy that is escalating due to a number of files that caused the estrangement between the government and the Assembly while the government ignored the opposition’s requests and suggestions.
“In light of the state of tense atmosphere between the two authorities, parliamentary reservations surfaced, some of which are acceptable and logical, and some indicate the existence of political and personal motives, as there are those who object the ‘presence’ of Minister Anas Al-Saleh despite his removal from the Ministry of Interior during the current formation, as well as objecting to the Minister of Foreign Affairs who was awarded Order of Kuwait of the first degree by HH the Amir in recognition of his role in resolving the Gulf crisis, for pioneering role he played in the Corona pandemic, in providing all means to secure and ensure the safety of our students and their safe return home. Their demand to remove these personalities is an unacceptable issue and raises a lot of question marks.
“What I would like to point out here is that the relationship between the two authorities has reached a dead end and resorting to dissolving the parliament and returning to the electoral bases is something that the government fears more than the opposition MPs themselves, because it will result in the people electing more stronger opposition than the current formation, and therefore the government is required to consider political reconciliation and the MPs should work to give priority to the public interest and not to waste time, which has already cost the country a lot because the country lags behind the neighbors despite all the available capabilities.
“Prolonging the conflict between the two powers may lead to further disrupting the National Assembly sessions, and it will not be in the interest of either side, and the thorny issues that the opposition is demanding must be looked into by the government, and end them either by voting on them or through an agreement, but ignoring them is not a solution.
“Likewise, the MPs must use their constitutional rights for interrogations at an appropriate time. It is not logical for the government to be questioned a month after its formation, so everyone is required to place Kuwait above all considerations.”
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“President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, did not care about a constitution or laws that restrict him but he did what would benefit his country, so he fired several prominent officials, including the head of corruption fighting authority and ten thousand employees holding forged certificates, reduced the number of ministers from 30 to 19 ministers, and obliged all ministers to disclose their assets and properties, and threatened to dismiss any minister who did not disclose his bank balance,” columnist and former Ambassador Ahmad AlDawwas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“In a surprise visit to a hospital, Magufuli found patients lying on the floor and the medical equipment damaged or non functional, so he ordered the dismissal of all those responsible for it and gave a two-week deadline to the new administration to correct the situation and everything was fixed within three days.
“He also sent his prime minister on a surprise inspection of the port of Dares-Salaam, and discovered embezzlement of $40 million. He ordered the arrest of the chief of the port along with five of his senior aides, and ordered the collection of all luxury cars belonging to the state, sold them at public auction and replaced them with modest Toyota cars.
“This president saw the duty of officials was to be concerned with internal problems and he prevented them from traveling first-class, and sent only four officials to represent the country during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, instead of 50 people.
“We actually need such an official to save us from what we are in, to eliminate the chaos, corruption, theft, violence and robbery that are sweeping the country, and also to order an end to the influx of expatriates, and to pay attention to the problems of citizens, and temporarily stops aid to other countries. The world will use the electric car, and then the price of oil will drop, state revenues will shrink and the country’s future will be in jeopardy.
“The constitution is not a holy book, why do we not see our national interest and work for it? What happened to Kuwait is enough and if we are not able to do as the President of Tanzania did, then we at least amend articles in the Constitution as the countries do, and establish an advisory council comprising faithful Kuwaitis.
“The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia do not have a parliament unlike us who have few members that work to achieve personal benefits and oppose the government.
“Without a parliament, the UAE has made tremendous progress in all fields, to the point that there is an Emirati saying ‘We have victory and primacy always in a day full of joys’, and the matter applies to Saudi Arabia, which has chosen the style of the advisory council that includes a group of respectable people who are sophisticated in their dealings, competence, nationalism and a high culture.
“As for us in Kuwait, a candidate aspires to be a Member of Parliament, reaches the green seat barefoot and ends up ‘wearing golden shoes’ although he swears by God Almighty to fulfill his duty with honor.
“One may say the executive authority will strengthen its influence in the absence of parliament. We can say that we have given our government, under its wise leadership, our full confidence for many years, even decades, and we hope that while Parliament is suspended, it will work to improve conditions by issuing decisions in favor of citizens, and for example choosing to form an efficient committee that includes the best patriots and intellectuals to solve internal problems.
“It is permissible, just to calm down a little or much, and if some argue that what we mentioned is against human rights, then former British prime minister David Cameron is quoted as saying ‘When matters reach national security, do not ask me about human rights’. Once again, there is no objection to suspending Parliament, even for a period of time, as an experiment, for example.
“The regional situation is dangerous, and the country remains underdeveloped at all levels. It is imperative that we work in order to preserve the security and stability of the country, achieve the interest of the country and alleviate the suffering of citizens, instead of parliamentary strife and the positions of MPs threatening the internal situation from time to time, thus they may move sleeper cells to threaten the existing, secure and stable system.”