Comparing our service conditions to the Gulf countries is unfair, due to the difference in governance systems. In order to become like them, we must abolish the regulatory bodies and work in a more centralized manner.

This means not caring about the cost of any project, as its implementation is the most important. This was applied in Kuwait to a limited extent, and the results were, in the opinion of some, unsuccessful, and examples are shown at the car racing track.

Our tragedy with our roads, for example, is mainly the result of lax government administration, the spread of corruption in many parts of the state, and the unwillingness to hold negligent people accountable, and the matter has nothing to do with our democratic system.

Just as there are examples of some of them failing, there are wonderful democracies that have achieved a lot and are superior in number!

Muhammad Al-Ratyan, the Saudi writer, wrote an article years ago, which did not receive much attention, which included a comparison between what countries in the Gulf achieved and the devastation that resulted from the “military” rule in Gaddafi’s Libya.

The article was rephrased again in 2016, and its author or someone else added Kuwait to Lebanon, and compared the situation of the two countries, the democrats, with some of the Gulf states. It was published under the title “The Sheikhs, the Military, and the Democracy,” and its title confirms the truth that it was mainly about Lebanon and the Gulf states.

The author says that in some countries there is a large amount of free noise, with little freedom, and that politicians are more than citizens. There is more gossip than achievements. He wondered why the democratic model in Kuwait failed in the area of development, and its success in other Gulf countries?

The majority of those who sent the article and liked it treated it as a talk, and considered it an argument against supporters of democracy, and that it was not created for us!

First: Our democracy goes back six decades, and we will not neglect it, because a writer did not like our political system. We have become accustomed to it, and we breathe through it, no matter how much noise is around us. The course of history says that what we call for is what will prevail in the end, and not the other way around. It is the nature of things, and is completely in line with human nature and its constant yearning for freedom.

Second: The freedoms and democracy that Lebanon enjoyed made it the best country, for half a century, among all Arab countries, in terms of education, tourism, medicine, and culture. Lebanon's distinguished people, its creators, and the product of its democracy have filled the entire world, and there is not enough space to mention even half of them.

This is what the rest of the Arab countries combined, and even Syria, which is similar to it, have failed to achieve, and the reasons for this are known.

Egypt's greatness, in many areas, occurred during the period of democracy, and everything dried up and died down with its absence.

Also, the freedoms that we have enjoyed, for half a century, are what made Kuwait, this small country, what it has become and the distinction and uniqueness it has achieved in its surroundings, which is the distinction that I used to feel and touch whenever I visited the Gulf countries, over the course of half a century, praise and admiration always came from them, not from me, because I knew that what they achieved, we could achieve with money and planning, but what about humans?

Third: Responding to brother Muhammad Al-Ratyan and to the enemies of democracy, especially at home, the majority of whom are either naive or have their own agendas, is easy, as they are not the obstructing factor.

The advancement of the state is a decision owned by the government, in cooperation with the Council, or others, and all we need is a future vision, a clear goal, and the power to make decisions.

We will all not be satisfied, neither today nor tomorrow, with rulers other than Al-Sabah. The issue of the complete absence of the voices of those who called for the Foreign Minister to be interrogated, if he refused to accredit the American ambassador, is a good example.

Therefore, with or without democracy, the Sabahs will remain our rulers, so what is the reason to neglect our current political system?

e-mail: [email protected]

By Ahmad alsarraf