And while lawmakers lobby to put the past behind them and move on towards a new beginning, some couldn’t help but notice how the main hall in the National Assembly building felt ‘strange’ without former MP Musallam Al-Barrak’s exuberant approach.
“The parliament is tasteless without Al- Barrak”, debutant MP Khalid Al-Shulaimi remarked, further extolling the outspoken former MP as being “an inspiration, not only to his fellow lawmakers, but to citizens as well”. Faisal Al-Duwaisan had similar words of praise for his former colleague.
“Whether we like it or not, no one can take Al-Barrak’s role in the parliament”, he told reporters following a side talk about the lack of heated debate during the inaugural session, which had been a regular fixture in past parliaments.
Al-Barrak watched the session live with supporters from a coffee shop near the Palace of Justice, where they saw MP Essam Al-Dabous take over the chair Al-Barrak had occupied since 1996.
They also watched Deputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khurainj sit on the seat set aside for the leading opposition figure and the man regarded as Al-Barrak’s mentor, Ahmad Al- Saadoun. Of note, Islamist lawmakers Khalid Al- Shulaimi, Hammad Al-Dousary and Abdurrahman Al-Jeeran chose to sit in a location at the far end of the seats occupied previously by former Islamist MPs Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem, Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Dr. Jamaan Al- Harbash. Meanwhile, newly appointed minister Thekra Al-Rashidi said on the first day of work that she plans to “shutdown corruption and enforce the law” at the Ministry of Social and Labor, sparking debate about her ability to end multiple issues that her predecessors had promised to end, yet came up short.
The two main subjects fueling the debate is the fact that Al- Rashidi’s statements were almost identical to promises made by former ministers after assuming the post, in addition to the ‘heavy burden’ that she is forced to tackle with issues ranging from the labor file and demographic balance, social care, and the co-operative societies sector.
The list of tasks on the minister’s desk is probably topped by the need to make the longawaited labor affairs authority a reality.
The draft law to establish the authority, which would handle labor-related issues in order to ultimately lead for abolishing the sponsorship system, is waiting to be passed by the parliament, while hope is placed on Al-Rashidi to push for it being a priority.
One of the main goals for establishing the labor authority is also to come up with a more effective mechanism regarding the demographic imbalance, by which Kuwaitis became a minority in their own country.
It is believed that chances for ‘restoring balance’ would be improved with a new system replacing the sponsorship system; something that is also blamed for loopholes utilized by human trafficking suspects.
Another important topic on the new minister’s agenda is social care, a sector many believe needs to be ‘overhauled’ with procedures that include restoring dilapidated buildings housing orphanages, as well as for the elderly and disabled citizens, in addition to addressing increasing problems reported at orphanages, = including suicide attempts.
