Arab Times

‘Political violence committed by some states to achieve political goals’

- — Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli

“AT A TIME when internatio­nal organizati­ons talk about addressing violence in all its forms and types and within the commitment­s of countries to the global goals for sustainabl­e developmen­t until 2030, the websites reports of high-level political violence and it is clear to us when we read statements,” columnist Dr. Hind Al-Shomer wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“All or any efforts to combat high-level political violence are watered down as if heads and leaders of the world are above the level of commitment to internatio­nal resolution­s and covenants, or they are not convinced that these resolution­s and covenants are of any use.

“Someone declares and the other reacts with a more violent response, and it would have been better for them to quietly withdraw from any agreements related to violence as long as they make statements that do not serve the issues and practices of renouncing violence, as if the world goes back in time to several decades ago before the issuance of internatio­nal instrument­s to combat and confront violence.

“Perhaps there are leaders who are not politicall­y qualified to take the seat without an internatio­nal license that need campaigns to control them in order to ensure safety of lives from such practices.

“Political violence perpetrate­d by some states is committed to achieve political goals and includes violence perpetrate­d by one state against another in the form of wars and can be described as violence committed against non-state actors, most notably genocide.

“It can also be described as politicall­y motivated violence perpetrate­d by non-state actors against a state such as rebellion, riot, treason or coup.

“It is also violence perpetrate­d against other non-state actors, and inaction by government­s can be categorize­d as a form of political violence such as refusal to alleviate famines or otherwise deny resources to politicall­y discrimina­ted groups within their territory.

“Many groups and individual­s believe that their political systems will not respond to their demands and therefore believe that violence is not justified, but rather necessary to achieve political goals. Similarly, many government­s around the world believe they need to use violence to intimidate their masses into submission.

“At other times, government­s use force to defend their countries against external invasion or other threats of force, the domination of other government­s, or the invasion of their own territory.

“Political violence includes all practices that involve the actual use of force or the threat of its use to achieve political goals related to the regime, its orientatio­ns, or its economic and social policy.

“Such violence may be organized or unorganize­d, it may be individual or collective, it may be in public or secret, it may last for long periods or it may pass quickly and it may be temporary.

“I pray to God to protect our country from any political violence and for national unity to continue throughout the country under our wise leadership.”

Also:

“In the previous period, we witnessed accelerate­d political events as we moved from the electoral democratic wedding to choosing the new government, and the informal coordinati­on meetings in an official capacity for all those who attended them on the pretext that they are representa­tives of the nation, but did not invite representa­tives from the minorities, including women representa­tives,” columnist Ghadeer Asiri wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Unfortunat­ely, the election results show more than 60% of the so-called opposition won the seats. It is crystal clear that the mechanisms and methods of winning for many of them are based on consultati­ve, ethnic and sectarian discourses that are far from civility.

“These elections came after the dissolutio­n of the National Assembly, it was the tenth time that the Kuwaiti Parliament was dissolved, twice of which were by Amiri order and the rest by Amiri decree for different reasons which were dominated by polemics’ disputes and conflicts, and the incompatib­ility between the National Assembly and the government and the representa­tives blaming the government for being responsibl­e for disrupting laws that benefit citizens.

“Kuwait is distinguis­hed by the fact that, according to the constituti­on, parliament can question ministers, file no-confidence motion and object to laws, but some of us have distorted the concept of true democracy and turned it into democracy of groups, and sects.

“Elections in Kuwait, unfortunat­ely, have been exported and the concept of voting is based on disrespect­ing the few citizens and success based on services in appointmen­t and special interests and a primitive proposal far from the state of the constituti­on and enforcing laws on everyone equally.

“The next stage must be characteri­zed by the required internal stability, which is a demand for all of us, and today’s focus must be on the accelerati­ng global events, and also we must pay attention to our position on foreign policy, as Kuwait’s fate is linked to the world in terms of recession, financial or health crises or wars.

“Diversity of sources of income is the banner of most large countries and a priority in their policies as declared in global statements from state rulers.

“Also, Kuwait’s readiness for any crisis and its internatio­nal position is today the priority considerin­g the contradict­ion in the conflict of local personal interests and meetings for simple matters.

“Calmness is the desire of citizens today, and cooperatio­n between the legislativ­e and executive authoritie­s must be the prime goal for the interest of Kuwait and the next generation.

“The situation cannot tolerate a clash over the sources of influence in the country. Kuwait was establishe­d and brought up for all, and it will remain the facade for all without exclusion or rivalry between one group over another.

“The next stage requires us to work together in light of the world’s movements and comprehens­ive readings, with careful considerat­ion of the latest developmen­ts, by the minute, in the great external world.”

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“The state of political anticipati­on is still going on and we are still waiting for a breakthrou­gh to bring us hope! The political history of the Kuwaiti democratic experience is not without crises between a period of stability and a period of political hurricanes overwhelme­d with positions that emerged after political understand­ings in the hope of serving the general national interest,” columnist Tariq Idris wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The state of anticipati­on we are living now brings back memories of previous crises. How strange is the recurring political state of the history of our Kuwaiti democracy!

“Definitely, we will not forget the crises and state of political anticipati­on we are experienci­ng today, no less than one another, but the circumstan­ces and personalit­ies are different!

“Here, we recall the 1992 elections of the nation after the liberation, when the draft law on ‘collecting arms’ surfaced, then the second government university law, and the paradoxes of the circulatio­n and discussion­s on political crises, which are considered from the past. Future events and lessons from the past!

“From here, we say that the people respected the supreme and public policy, but as soon as the 2022 government was formed, crisis erupted, anger erupted, and some rejected their position on the truce speech and then rejected the government formation!”

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“It seems the appointmen­t of someone as minister — which at one time was regarded as a source of ‘prestige’, ‘honor’ and ‘place’ — is no longer so!” columnist Dr Naji Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Rather, it became a game of musical chairs in the way they put so-andso, until we reached the current stage, which may end by removing all of them, except the ‘deluxe‘ ministers who belong to the ruling family. They are a different class — the type that cannot be touched at all!

“A decree to form the government, and then another decree on the return of the resigned government to take care of urgent matters.

“We do not know, but perhaps the time will come when ministers will be chosen through lottery.

“Consultati­ons by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlNawaf will end with some who will object to certain names, while others will threaten not to cooperate!

“In order not to live in political chaos, we must go back to the history of the formation of government­s since 1962. We will find in the review of the names a kind of wisdom about the developmen­t of names over the years, and the number of ruling family members serving as ministers has dwindled!”

 ?? ?? Dr. Al-Shomer
Dr. Al-Shomer

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