To our leaders: This is what Kuwait and its people want

CONSTITUTIONALLY, cooperation and understanding between the government and National Assembly are inevitable; regardless of the form and orientation of the government and whoever the Assembly members are.

Therefore, it is important for the leaders, as well as the future Council of Ministers, to realize that the election outcomes reflect what the people want, especially since the election took place in a calm atmosphere and it was not tainted with rigging, transfer of votes or blatant vote-buying, as the case in the past.

The huge turnout of voters was a response to the invitation of His Highness the Amir and HH the Crown Prince; so the demands of the people, which they presented to their representatives in the National Assembly, must be taken into consideration.

It is true that not all of these demands are acceptable, in the same manner that not all of the government’s demands are legitimate. This must be considered to prevent resumption of the absurd conflict between the constitutional institutions, especially since experience proved that no one can achieve everything he wants.

Here, it must be remembered that when the government suspended the Constitution in 1986 and established the National Assembly, it was met with a great wave of public anger. It failed to prevent the people from expressing their opinion. It was unable to ignore their demands.

Today, MPs have the public’s demands. In order to prove that they have good intentions, they must turn these demands into laws; including the release of those imprisoned for expressing their views and to stop the injustice inflicted on imprisoned loan defaulters, those who are being pursued or those who issued dud cheques, among other demands.

The country is also suffering from the worsening housing crisis due to the wrong policy on which it was based; hence, the need to amend this policy. This is in addition to the absurd subsidy from which traders are benefitting at the expense of low-income people who are suffering twice, while corruption remains the root of problems. This was clearly expressed by His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad when he said: “Two camels cannot carry the corruption in this country.”

Corruption in this country is almost a management style, based mainly on a dubious relationship between MPs and ministers. It was established by turning a blind eye to the concerned authorities, rather, by colluding with them.

In addition to all of these is the wicked closure of the country, as no one could bring a guest from abroad unless a visa is obtained from the Minister of Interior or Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry; while in neighboring countries, visas are issued electronically within minutes. This turned other Gulf Cooperation Council countries into tourist and investment destinations. They enjoy economic activity which will take light years for Kuwait to reach, unless the ministerial decisions and laws that prevent entertainment are abandoned today.

All you have to do is monitor the air and land ports during holidays. You will see the crowds exiting to spend their holidays in neighboring countries. This will make you realize one of the causes of our economic suffering.

As for development and productive projects, Kuwait is almost the only one in the region that has not yet realized that its documentary cycle is one of the obstacles to the implementation of these projects; in addition to the deliberate drying up of skilled labor.

When the Minister of Commerce announced that “we have a shortage of skilled labor,” did his staff ask themselves what could be the reason behind this? Or, they did not discuss the matter with the Public Authority for Manpower, Ministry of Interior or Council of Ministers to determine the causes.

Isn’t he the one who issued the ‘sixty-years’ decision and the continuous expulsion of thousands of skilled workers every month, as well as decisions and laws that almost made the worker a slave who has no protection? Isn’t this the reason?

Countries throughout the world have a migrant labor force -- an added value to the national economy. Migrant workers contribute to construction and services, as well as activate the economic and financial cycle of the State.

If you really want the development and advancement of Kuwait, you must abolish all these decisions and laws or deport all expatriates; and then take their place in construction, services and in various fields of production, or act based on the principle that if you want to be obeyed, ask for what is possible.

On development, one of the former prime ministers said: “Kuwait needs 100,000 workers to expedite the implementation of development projects.” The next day, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor said she intends to deport 100,000 workers within a year. The Prime Minister and the Minister did not agree, so was there any development?

The leaders are fully aware that this Parliament carries many of the people’s demands. The next government must realize this as well, as it is not possible for the country to run in a healthy manner if it suffers from lameness and, in many cases, from rickets.

This is from us to our leaders who are entrusted with Kuwait and its future: Fix this devastation and get rid of the legacy of disorder and favoritism which prevailed when everything was entrusted in hands of the currents of backwardness. This defect must be fixed to straighten the affairs of the country.