The lawmaker made the statement in a recent interview with the Arab Times. He pointed out that peace and security are vital in all aspects of life; hence, the weapons collection bill is one of his top priorities. He believes there will be no room for fear, doubt and emergence of terrorist groups like Daesh once the bill is ratified. He added it will also curb the spread of violence, particularly the use of weapons in riots.
Following is the full text of the interview:
Question: What parliamentary program have you adopted for the benefit of Kuwait and its people?
Answer: Every MP has his own area of expertise when it comes to dealing with issues, especially in this Parliament which is not composed of political blocs or parties as it consists of 50 individual members. I focus on security issues rather than social, economic, health and others; considering the nature of my work and experience. I believe other issues can be dealt with effectively whenever the country is secure, if the State is sovereign and if offenders are punished according to the law. When I say offenders, I mean those who abuse democracy; insult the Parliament, judiciary and government; exploit citizens; steal public funds; and engage in corrupt activities.
Therefore, peace and security are possible if we apply the laws properly, punish those who violate the laws, and ensure respect for the regime and the State. Only then we can secure other State facilities and programs of lawmakers.
Today, the Weapons Collection Bill gives us a glimmer of hope that the people in this country will live in peace and stability while nobody should fear anything other than the law.
Q: We recently observed the spread of weapons in the hands of many people who pose a grave threat not only to the lives of citizens and residents, but also to national security as a whole. As one concerned with security and as Chairman of the Interior and Defense Committee, how important is the Weapons Collection Bill and how should it be implemented?
A: Undoubtedly, the bill is one of the top priorities of most of MPs considering the current security situation in the region. Kuwait is surrounded by security threats due to the ongoing incidents in neighboring countries like Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon which are suffering from instability. This is happening because some entities support and sympathize with terrorist groups; especially the superpower countries like USA, Russia and China which have been unable to control those who threaten national, regional and international security.
Q: Some Kuwaiti youths have reportedly joined terrorist groups such as IS, Nusra Front and al-Qaeda to fight against the US and its allies. There is growing fear that these youths would initiate extremist and terrorist activities in Kuwait upon their return. This has prompted some MPs to present a draft bill on the amendment of the Penal Code to arrest and cancel the citizenship of those proven to be affiliated with terrorist groups or joined in their fight. What is your opinion on this bill?
A: I am one of the MPs who presented this bill. I still insist on imposing harsher penalties on these citizens due to loopholes in the existing law regarding those who support or affiliate with terrorist groups.
In Kuwait, we don’t have such a law. This is a big problem considering the rapid turn of events related to security and ideologies; not to mention the ability and strength of the youths in mobilizing religious groups which they developed into armed groups that crave for power, similar to what happened in Syria and Iraq.
Thus, in Kuwait we need to issue a legislation criminalizing affiliation with any terrorist group; including anybody who supports, sponsors or promotes any terrorist group.
In most cases, these groups work on financial and contract bases; not convictions and principles. In fact, some countries want to destabilize other countries or wage war against them. In the past, this was done through spy and intelligence groups but the method of waging war has changed. It is now done through the creation of terrorist groups consisting of citizens of the same country under the guise of democracy, combating terrorism, Arab Spring and others.
I want to emphasize that in Kuwait, we need a law stipulating severe punishment on anyone convicted of affiliating with a terrorist group to serve as deterrent to those planning to threaten the security of this small country.
Secondly, we have very enthusiastic youths who are facing many problems; such as unemployment, education and health. They may take advantage of the situation, particularly the failure of the government, to use force in addressing problems and rectifying mistakes. This is the psyche of such youths.
Another concern is the fact that some people sympathize with these youths; thereby, encouraging them to travel outside under the pretext of tourism only to guide them to a different route later where they join a terrorist group to undergo training on how to use guns and explosives. The Center for Change was allegedly established in a Gulf country for training youths and leaders on the methods for changing their regimes by using force.
Q: For several years, the Kuwaiti government has been implementing the Moderation Program as part of measures to educate the Kuwaiti youths on religious tolerance and avoiding extremism. Despite this, we still see some Kuwaiti youths rushing to join extremists abroad. This raises doubts on the program. What is your opinion?
A: The government committed a grave mistake and we are now suffering the consequences. This happened because the government did not assign the tasks of educating youths and protecting them from extremist ideologies to educational, training, social, and sports institutions. The executive authority gave such an important responsibility to charity organizations which teach extremist ideologies to our youths.
Regrettably, these charity organizations have exploited the youths while the government made the public believe that they are teaching youths to be religious and patriotic. As a result, the youths have become loyal to these organizations; thinking this is the right thing to do if they want to be strong, famous and realize their educational and career ambitions.
Eventually, the government had to accept that these organizations represent strong forces in the country; to the extent that the formation of the previous government was based on sectarian, religious and tribal affiliations. Consequently, the current government has a big responsibility – to retrieve these youths from the so-called charities and educate them through the coordinated efforts of the ministries of Social Affairs, Awqaf, Youth and Sports to ensure they pledge allegiance only to their country and its regime; not parties, sects or tribes.
Also, the Moderation Program did not yield positive results because those in charge of its implementation are not moderate; they are rather tribal, sectarian and extremist. If we want our youths to be moderate and tolerant, we must rehabilitate and educate them under the tutelage of moderate people. The Ministry of Awqaf, which is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, handles the Moderation Program. Probably, the program was laid down to steal public funds.
Q: Recent reports on the spread of shabu among Kuwaiti youths indicate rising drug abuse and violence rates. In your view, what is the best way to solve this problem?
A: The drugs issue is global; it is not limited to a particular country. Drug abuse and trafficking had become widespread in every country because the entire world has gone astray and it has been suffering from financial, social and ethical crises. This is the so-called ‘openness’ we see on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and others wherein everything is open without any ethical or behavioral restrictions – a way of life that moved from the West and Europe to our country and Asia. In this manner, the youths are affected and influenced by what is happening around the world.
Secondly, the recruitment of drug cartels and mafias is on the rise. In the beginning, these gangs controlled only certain areas or districts in their countries; but now they control a whole country and the world. They decide the fate of countries and their leaders, with assassinations or killings as their weapons. Today, drugs are no longer used just for fun as they have become tools for exploiting youths and inciting them to commit crimes like suicide bombings, gang rape and mass killings. This is currently happening in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other countries. Suicide bombers and killers could not carry out such atrocities without taking drugs which ‘remove’ their conscience.
We are now facing this problem in Kuwait. We see huge quantities of different types of drugs here because the current law is ineffective. In this law, only the drug smuggler is sentenced to death; not those who promote or trade in drugs.
A serious question is begging for an Answer: Who are the Kuwaitis involved in drug trafficking? We only hear about Afghan, Iranian or Pakistani drug smugglers. Is it logical for the country to witness the smuggling of three million narcotic pills worth KD6 million with each pill is valued at KD2? This multimillion trade indicates the involvement of some Kuwaitis, not only Afghan or Iranian smugglers. This is a real challenge to the government because the Criminal Investigation Department alone cannot combat drug trafficking.
Therefore, I propose the establishment of a public authority for combating drugs which should have a huge budget and controlled by representatives from all ministries so that we combat drugs not only through laws, but also through awareness programs.
I suggest that convicted drug dealers should be sentenced to death by hanging in public or any other means in accordance with the Islamic Sharia. Today, some are talking about human rights in light of imposing death sentence on drug traffickers. But, the question is: Where is human rights when the drug traffickers were destroying our youths and children? Do traffickers deserve human rights? Every country, including the USA and Europe, are facing drug-related problems. Thus, Kuwait must take appropriate measures according to its religion, culture and tradition to fight against this poisonous and destructive substance. The country must kill those who deserve killing without looking at the human rights aspect because drugs are considered killers. We only consider human rights when a person is treated unfairly, not the other way round.
Q: Your committee is about to present the Military Conscription Bill again. It was submitted earlier but discussions in this regard were suspended. Why do you want to submit it again? Will it have a positive impact on the security issue?
A: A similar law was implemented for almost 45 years in the past, when the region was facing danger and threats due to wars in Iraq and Iran. This is in addition to Israeli threats against Arab countries; hence, the idea of recruiting youths to defend their country and maintain a reserve military force in case the need arises.
I was an officer in the Armed Forces at the time, but unfortunately, the leadership in the Army misused and mishandled the program due to favoritism and “wasta” (influence). It was not applied on everyone. For example citizens who reached 30 years old were exempted from the law, as well as those studying in universities. In the military fields and units, the top officials asked other recruits (soldiers) to complete their transactions but sent their children to universities without any regard for the law.
In light of the above, we made sure the new Military Conscription Bill will address military and social issues. For instance, if a ministry faces problems like demonstrations and natural disasters, the conscripts will be trained for such incidents.
I want to stress though that we have to apply the Weapons Collection Bill before the Military Conscription Bill because it is not advisable to train the youths on how to use guns, if such weapons are readily available everywhere in the country. We have to collect all weapons and get rid of the problem before training the youths on using weapons from the weapons depot of the government.
Q: Do you think women should be covered by the conscription bill?
A: I don’t think women should be involved or trained in the military. Women can work only in the administrative field. We need to recruit male fighters. It is difficult for women, especially the Gulf women, to engage in military combat. Women, by nature, are social creatures. They can mingle with military men and work as policewomen or as volunteers to serve female civilians, but I don’t see the necessity of recruiting women as fighters or in the Armed Forces.
Q: Are you satisfied with how the government is handling the Bedoun issue, which has affected Kuwait’s image internationally?
A: For the former MPs and governments, the Bedoun issue is political, not humanitarian. But in reality, this is a humanitarian issue. Therefore, there is confusion between the political and humanitarian aspects of the issue. On the humanitarian side, the government has granted citizenship to some Bedouns who deserve it; yet on the political side, some MPs, ministers and sheikhs are using it to serve their political interests by pushing for the naturalization of undeserving Bedouns. This practice has negatively affected those who deserve citizenship, so we need to separate these two aspects and focus only on the humanitarian side while setting aside the political aspect.
Again, the government has committed a grave political mistake on the part of some deserving Bedouns who applied for passports as the executive authority allowed them to obtain passports from countries where they don’t belong and cannot live in. Eventually, it turned out that these passports were temporary, in spite paying a huge sum to obtain the document. These Bedouns are still facing the citizenship problem and they cannot return to those countries after the expiration of their passports. The government must grant them Kuwaiti citizenship to solve their problem.
Biography
MP Abdullah Al-Mayouf was born in 1953 and holds a Master’s Degree in Military Science. He was a member of the December 2012 Parliament that was annulled by the Constitutional Court. He was also a member of Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA), Kuwait Red Crescent Society and Kazma Sports Club.
Al-Mayouf returned to the Parliament after winning first place in the last by-elections with 2,228 votes to occupy one of two seats in the Third Constituency which became vacant following the resignation of ex-MPs Safa’ Al-Hashim and Abdul-Kareem Al-Kandari.
In the 2012 Parliament, Al-Mayouf joined the Interior and Defense Committee and the Budget and Final Accounts Committee in the first round of the 14th legislative term. He was elected as one of six executive members of Kuwait Parliamentary Division Committee.
He took part in the 2013 parliamentary elections but failed to secure a seat as he landed on the 12th position in his constituency. In the current Parliament, Al-Mayouf was elected chairman of the Interior and Defense Committee and member of Women and Family Affairs Committee.
