A political activist Dr Sajed Al-Abdali blamed the near immobility of political and economic activities on the long-term hardliner postures adopted by both the organs. He noted that most citizens do not have any background knowledge of constitutional implications of the unconstitutional dissolution of the Parliament; hence they remain contended. “The government has failed to present clear-cut actions and policies, while the National Assembly has not been up to the mark in its supervisory functions. This is why the two organs are always at loggerheads,” the political activist posited.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary General of Umbrella for Kuwait Action Anwar Rushaed predicted that the current crisis would not be the last one. He asked the audience to refer back to 1921 in order to study and discover stages of political tensions until 1962. He noted that constitution was suspended in 1938 until 1962 when the current constitution came into being. He described the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem as a God-sent leader who reintroduced democracy and constitution, which regulates relations between leaders and the citizens.
“Tension was always there between the two opposing sides; one is for democracy while the other is against the system, but it is the truth that will triumph and citizens will be the deciding factor,” he asserted.
Former Dean of Kuwait University’s College of Social Sciences and political scientist Professor Ali Tarrah opined that the present situation is worse that the Gulf war situation, “since the war was against external enemies unlike this one which involves enemies within.” He said Kuwaitis are convinced that the National Assembly should not be a tool against normal life in the country. He urged the entire nation to work towards finding a way out of the logjam. “The political class have corrupted the entire system, so there must be emergence of new blocs to wage war against inconsistency and system failure,” the political analyst and columnist added.
Clarify
Meanwhile, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah should go up the grilling podium to clarify issues highlighted in the interpellation request presented by three Islamist MPs to end the current political turmoil in the country, reports Al-Seyassah quoting the political analysts who attended a seminar organized by the Democratic Forum recently under the slogan “Political or Constitutional Crisis.”
Dr Mohammad Al-Faeli, a law professor, argued that anybody who describes the grilling request against the premier as instigator of conflict is implicitly denouncing Article 102 of the Constitution, which guarantees the rights of MPs to grill erring ministers. He said each arm of the government has its own set of responsibilities and functions that are fundamental in differentiating government bodies. He also stressed the need to make distinctions in the functions of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities as major ‘organs’ of the government. He added each organ sees its role as significant and paramount in the scheme of things, asserting there is a tendency that one organ will not allow the other to interfere in its expected roles and any conflict of interests often spark controversies. “Stages of check and balances in governance should start through dialogue like grilling that can aggravate to a vote of no confidence if not managed well,” he opined.
On the other hand, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Anjeri said the state, Constitution and democracy are the major problems of Kuwait. He observed that Kuwait has failed to fully practice the presidential or parliamentary system of democracy, adding the Parliament has no solid political parties or blocs. He pointed out all parliamentary blocs have three or four members only, indicating that the Salafists, who claimed to have 18 seats in the National Assembly after the elections, are divided into sub-groups with five or less members each. “Since the Parliament is full of divergent groups, the government is the only coordinated authority, so it should have a clear set of development programs,” Al-Anjeri concluded.
