28/06/2022
22334 times read
28/06/2022
22334 times read
FOR the first time in decades, a royal speech of this level of clarity and openness has been delivered. It includes measures, or rather a roadmap, that guide towards formulating constitutional institutions that represent the people effectively, and away from the usual interference in general elections or parliamentary committees.
The speech defines the responsibilities and sources of deficiencies in the executive and legislative authorities. It sets a benchmark for what the days may carry if the performance does not change.
The Amiri speech was what could be characterized as much stronger than the two speeches regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly and suspension of the constitution in 1976 and 1986. Incidentally, it is very important to go back to that stage and compare its situation with what is currently happening in Kuwait.
If the parliamentary suspension in the two aforementioned years was marred by a lot of hardship in the process of selecting representatives of the state who were below the level of challenges of that period, the situation today requires reforming the ruling house first, as the local and regional situation calls for the unity of the ruling family because it is one of the guarantor tools of governance and the state.
This means exiting from the bickering and conflict among different parts of the ruling house, so that there is no army of electronic files against a sheikh, or statements issued under pseudonyms paid by another sheikh, and so that no sheikh issues a statement from London, Washington, Paris or Geneva. Everyone of them must adhere to the general lines drawn by the elders of the ruling family. They should, as is the case in all the ruling Gulf families or even the kingdoms of the world, stick to the responsibilities of each person that are determined according to the task entrusted to him.
There is no doubt that in the ruling family, there are many young, educated, and cultured individuals. These are the kits of the future who, together with the people, constitute an elite group that works sincerely to rebuild institutions, and get out of the tunnel of self-seeking, selfishness, and ambushing other ruling family members in an effort to acquire a particular position and employ it for personal interest, or to burn the bridges to reach to a certain position.
Reforming the ruling house is the first step for a radical reform in the country. It is a major historical step, starting with choosing the fittest and those most familiar with the tasks of the Prime Minister and the ministers entrusted with the sovereign dockets.
It should not be the ones who depend on social status, making their positions more like fortified castles, closing their doors, and covering their ears from hearing the voices of the people. Some of them employ the institutions and departments of their ministry for personal gains.
In the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, there are many departments that need strong, honest people aware of the sensitivity of the tasks entrusted to them. This is because any negligence in such tasks leads to financial and administrative corruption, as is the case in armament or security contracts, and the relation between the security institution and the people, or in supervising elections and seeking to prefer certain individuals.
The minister of a sovereign ministerial docket must be the best representative of the ruling family, characterized by integrity and abidance to the law. Otherwise, he would end up harming himself, draining the family’s balance within the people, and setting a bad example of state personalities, which is undoubtedly something that neither the elders of the ruling family nor the common people accept.
Therefore, we reiterate that real reform starts from within the ruling family, and not from outside.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times