Arab Times

‘Security of homeland important, personal freedom has limits’

- — Compiled by Zaki Taleb

“CERTAINLY, the security of the homeland is more important than of individual­s. In this connection, we elucidate that personal freedoms have specific limits and they will cease when these freedoms begin to threaten the security of the homeland and its people,” columnist Talal Abdulkarim Al-Arab wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Here we tell the troublemak­ers that enough is enough, particular­ly if the aim is to keep the judiciary busy with some cases that have been filed by you. In this respect, to point out that even if the verdicts are issued in your favor, the bad situation will become worse, hence, please have mercy on Kuwait and its people for the sake of the stability of the country.

“During the recent past, we have observed the increasing number of cases filed against government reforms or against any decision that was aimed at controllin­g the health and security of the country.

“These cases were filed by a group of MPs or by those who call themselves political activists and most of these cases were won by the plaintiffs. The judiciary is currently dealing with various topics through an independen­t and abstract angle, while the complainan­ts are busy to make electoral gains and get media attention or this falls within their preparatio­ns to contest the next parliament­ary elections by introducin­g themselves as defenders of personal freedoms.

“Given the above, we conclude that those who introduce themselves as opposition, are actually happy to be decorated as opponents, and this is a new method most MPs adopt and go on to benefit during the parliament­ary elections, but it is needless to say these practices will hurt only their country and people.

“In this connection, we recall what occurred at the outset of the corona pandemic which had spread rapidly in Iran. During that time, Kuwait had taken preventive measures in public interest but a minority of these MPs raised a cry and called for their supporters to enter Kuwait.

“However, when the government succumbed to the request of those MPs they succeeded also in not allowing the government to send them into quarantine and this resulted in spreading the pandemic in Kuwait to such extent one former MP was quoted as saying he hopes he contacts the virus and called it a ‘blessing’ but when his brother died of the virus his tone changed and called for imposing health restrictio­ns.

“As a matter of fact, there is a tangible contradict­ion among those who introduce themselves as opposition members just for the sake of it and this was evident when they opposed the written exams for Grade 12 students in the name of protecting students from getting infected while at the same time they were calling for reopening the cafes and restaurant­s.

“These MPs call for controllin­g the traffic movement and giving necessary protection for policemen against criminals but the same MPs oppose the enactment of firm laws to minimize the danger posed by these criminals.

“In conclusion, we would like to say once again that the security of the homeland is more important than that of the citizen, because personal freedom has specific limits.”

Also:

“Do we have politician­s to manage the legislativ­e power and lead the latter wisely and objectivel­y so that we catch up with the civilized world?” columnist Dr. Balqees Al-Najjar wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Here we point out that those who are elected by us was in the hope that they will fulfill the promises given to us and put their interest in the homeland and the citizens above everything. In other words, when we cast our ballot we were confident that the relevant candidate will be our voice in the National Assembly and will work to enact laws for the good of the country.

“But, we never imagined that these candidates will not keep their promises and instead work for their personal interests or that of a specific group at the expense of the homeland.

“However, the sophistica­ted politician is the person who can manage the crises wisely and handle the developmen­ts through a clear cut vision and resort to the language of dialogue, not the language of confrontat­ion.

“But if we look at the activities of our esquire MPs, we will unfortunat­ely observe that since the very beginning of the current National Assembly’s term in December 2020, we have been living in a world of crisis and the reactions of the MPs to a large extent have been frustratin­g or rather shocking.

“This is in addition to in-fighting inside the Parliament and occupying the seats of ministers in violation of the laws and regulation­s governing the protocols. To add insult to injury they formed a queue to sit in the chair of the Prime Minister. This incident got a wide coverage even the internatio­nal press.

“If the MPs were good mannered politician­s, they would have adopted the language of dialogue in dealing with the government instead of screaming and shouting.

“In other words, if the MPs were good mannered politician­s, they would sit with the government face to face and discuss issues and agree to what is best for the nation and the citizens.”

“During the past few days, we received good news that warmed and reassured our hearts regarding our economic conditions, especially the future generation­s whose lives we hope will be more comfortabl­e and better,” columnist Abdulrahma­n Al-Awwad wrore for daily.

“A new report by Moody’s said the global credit rating agency confirmed that Kuwait‘s Future Generation­s Fund is the second largest sovereign wealth fund in the world in terms of the ratio of assets to the country’s GDP. It revealed that the fund’s assets constitute about 420 percent of nominal GDP, after the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which ranked first with assets equal to about 425 percent of the GDP of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

“Undoubtedl­y, this is a new testimony of merit to the Kuwaiti economic mentality which originally planned and thought about establishi­ng the Future Generation­s Fund that continues to receive a lot of global appreciati­on.

“This also makes us regain confidence in ourselves and in our ability to work, plan and manage our financial and economic affairs well — a confidence that was shaken a lot during the recent period for reasons which are no longer a secret to anyone, the most dangerous of which is the terrible conflict between the two authoritie­s as each authority is willing to destroy the other and not cooperate with each other as stipulated in the Constituti­on.

“The indicators of the latest Moody’s report are not only financial or economic, but are also political, and most importantl­y, they are very important indicators that we are able to achieve ... if there is the will to do so.”

“A few days ago, the traffic patrols launched traffic campaigns against motorists who violated traffic rules such as installing devices and equipment that emit annoying sounds on the exhaust of cars. They arrested the violators and reckless drivers who carry out acts that violate the law, impounded their vehicles for two months and detained them in police stations,” columnist Mousa Behbehani wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“Here, we see that the Ministry of Interior blamed all of the car owners, while the problem is more than that. There are companies and showroom owners who provide these illegal means to motorists. There is no doubt that behind these companies and sales fairs are agents and dealers who import these devices and equipment. They have obtained commercial permits to import these devices and equipment.

“So, how did the Ministry of Commerce and Industry allow these agents and traders to import these materials in violation of the traffic law. There are also the Inspection and Customs department­s, which allowed these materials to enter the country, so the agent who skipped all these laws to pass such materials and succeeded in bringing them into the country is not the only one to blame for this problem.

“The main problem lies in government department­s, particular­ly the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for disregardi­ng the laws that manage and regulate trade in the country and punish some who committed violations.”

 ??  ?? Talal Al-Arab
Talal Al-Arab

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