YOUR Highness the Amir, let us start from the end. What happened in recent years demonstrated a misunderstanding of the Constitution and democracy, as if we had not learned in 63 years from countries with a system similar to ours and worked to achieve justice because it is the basis for democracy and the ultimate goal of modern constitutions.
Indeed, we have not learned from the very harsh lesson of the invasion and its precursor, which the ungrateful criminal Saddam Hussein took as an excuse to invade the country. He mistook the noise that occurred in the so-called “Monday Diwaniyas” as an internal division, because of which his army committed atrocities against our country, the first of which was the invasion.
In one of the articles of the Constitution, the following text was stated, “… It is not permissible to propose an amendment to this Constitution before five years have passed since its implementation.”
Unfortunately, that point was forgotten, to serve either interests or blocs, and thus the entire text was misunderstood. That is why, whenever there are demands to develop and modernize the Constitution, those who oppose it rise up and consider it as a coup.
Note that the majority of democratic countries amend their constitutions every few years to adapt to changes.
For example, the United States of America amended its constitution 27 times, and no one considered it as a coup against the state and the regime.
Your Highness, dozens of ministers and hundreds of parliamentarians consider the one-eyed democracy prevailing in the country as normal behavior. The constitutional text gives them the right to deviate from the law and established regulations.
That is why, instead of progress and development, they imposed their personal will, and spread corruption. Strangely enough, all of it was by law.
Prime Ministers and ministers left power in black robes either as a result of their practices or they were accused of doing so. Indeed, the rulings issued against some of them proved that they were not worthy of national responsibility. Despite that, nothing changed.
Instead, the practices remained the same and in fact worsened, which is what you said in your royal statement.
Your Highness, the people and rulers of the Gulf are ecstatic about what you offered, because they saw in Kuwait not the Paris of the East, but rather an icon and a cultural and civilizational message not only for the Gulf but for the Arab world. What happens here affects its immediate surroundings, either negatively or positively, and they do not want it to be a window of evil or corruption upon them.
Also, the people of Kuwait, since liberation, have lived with an obsession about the loss of stability, especially when they saw the banners of sects and tribes spread across several areas of the country on occasions, as if Kuwait, despite its small area and the small population, had become a sectarian state.
There is no doubt that this matter requires a lot of effort to eliminate the negatives that have stuck to the national identity, and return to the springs on which this country was built.
Your Highness, all we see from the “veneers” of democracy is boasting, gossiping, and seeking to distort people’s reputation and character and protect the corrupt.
In this regard, there are armies that serve this abhorrent purpose, and harm Kuwait and its people, while lacking unity and harmony.
Your Highness, throughout the past three decades and even more, there has been parliamentary tyranny. Whenever the government proposes a project, the MPs meet it with a lot of objections. It could be because they did not get a share of it, like what happened in the North and Dow fields, the Northern Economic Zone, and the Silk City, or like what happened in 2013 when the Gulf states sought to help Egypt.
This is because, at that time there was a majority in the National Assembly that served certain foreign agendas. Some of them suggested that Amir not be allowed to donate more than five million dollars. However, the Constitutional Court ruled to invalidate the parliament, and this project, which restricted the powers of the Amir, was dropped. Indeed, this proposal was the coup itself.
We all know that the abuses committed against the Constitution under the pretext of democracy cannot be borne by any state or society that seeks stability.
Therefore, what the Kuwaitis seek today is to develop the approach, either within a modern constitution, or by correcting the defect in administration, and returning Kuwait to the approach that maintains its stability.
The first is a radical abandonment of the laws, and working to separate powers while establishing proper cooperation, and not with the tyranny of one at the expense of another.
Your Highness, Kuwait is waiting for a lot to happen during your new era, especially since they heard in your royal speech during the oath-taking session many titles that carry hope for a more stable, united, developed, and prosperous future.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
