IT IS natural for a country to fall into long-term crises if it is weak and corrupt. Perhaps, these crises led to hunger, as it happened at one stage in China or Singapore before the era of Lee Kuan Yew or Germany’s Otto von Bismarck who sought to revive his country in various ways in order to restore its strength and well-being. Many figures in history committed themselves to advancing their country. For this reason, they became examples worth mentioning like Muhammad Ali Pasha in Egypt, King Abdulaziz bin Saud -- the unifier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultan Qaboos -- the manufacturer of the Omani Renaissance and others who saved their countries when corruption became rampant in all aspects.
All these countries were saved by one man, who was determined and had a vision, and knew that a bitter cure was necessary, no matter how great the difficulties. Today, Kuwait is facing a new and important phase whose signs are already clear, as it lived in political chaos when some people overstepped the executive powers in the name of the Constitution and enacted laws whose essence was to preserve their interests. Rather, the development of legislation was suspended because those with influence saw it as an infringement on their interests. They even deliberately prevented free opinion, demanding amendment to the Constitution, which had grown old and had become like a cripple led by groups that imposed their interests on everyone.
Without a doubt, deifying the Constitution and making it divine created a kind of terror among everyone; up to the point that for 63 years, rulers have been wary of calling for development, because they faced many rioting attempts. The constitutional texts were the source of the country’s backwardness because they granted executive powers to the parliamentarians whose actual tasks are legislation and oversight, not governance, which the Amir assumes through the executive authority. This happened up to the extent that any law the Amir rejected was approved forcefully after a month. It happened in 2003, when HH the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad approved the political rights of women, but the National Assembly rejected the law.
The rejection continued until 2005, when women forced it on parliamentarians and others. All this is a result of parliamentary hegemony, which severely harmed the country; while the Constitution clearly states that HH the Amir is the head of all authorities. Nevertheless, the loud noise that prevailed limited the exercise of his powers.
During the era of HH the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, agreements were made with China for Kuwait to enter the ‘Silk Road’ project, develop the islands and implement other gigantic projects, but the Assembly blocked them; because the stakeholders found that it did not serve them and prevented their corruption, through what was called the ‘local agent’ that was canceled months ago under pressure from the leadership, since the latter saw it as a source of systematic plunder.
Kuwait has a lot of money invested abroad and such investment is subject to very high risks. The country incurred enormous losses in recent international crises. This means the country needs a lot of local investments in various fields; hence, money must be pumped into it, whether from the public or private sector, which was shackled at some point by parliamentary riots and the influential people’s monopoly of everything in the country.
Today, we are faced with a ruler who has lived over the past decades observing everything that is happening in the country. He is saddened by what the situation has become. He has committed himself to exerting his utmost efforts to restore the country’s pioneering position and to work on its renaissance by investing every national effort on this. Therefore, those concerned in the Council of Ministers must live up to the expectations of their Amir. They should start the construction phase, and achieve what HH the Amir -- the Head of the State -- promised to the people because everyone in Kuwait wants prosperity
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
[email protected]
