“THE IRAQI parliamentary elections got over and altercations among various political groups kicked off,” columnist and Editor -in- Chief of Awan Dr Mohammad Al-Rumaihi wrote for the daily Saturday.
“In this context, one may refer that Iraq’s parliamentary experiment had a lot of loopholes and this entails that Iraqis hasten in rectifying the mistakes. As for me, I would like to discuss the effects of developments in Iraq on Kuwait.

“As of now, we don’t know who will be the next prime minister of Iraq and of course, it is up to Iraqis to decide such issues. There are, however, indications that the incumbent Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki might get reappointed as the new prime minister and pursuant to Iraqi constitution, he will be responsible for Iraq’s foreign relations with other countries, including Kuwait of course.
“As a matter of fact, any type of democracy is better than all forms of dictatorships, particularly in terms of dealing with neighboring countries, as well as with the local social fabric.

“In other words, irrespective of the kind of the democracy that is implemented, it eventually helps people in being more tolerant towards others and this was evident in the experiments of many countries.
“The first example that comes to my mind is that of Indian and Pakistani democratic experiments. History shows that as long as Pakistan had some kind of democracy, its clashes with neighbor India decreased significantly. Such being the case, we can presume that if Iraqis obtain democracy and pluralism, there will be harmony both internally and with its neighbors.

“In this context, one may cite the incident narrated by Syrian officer Mohammed Maarouf who participated in many military coups in his country and was pro-Iraq during the struggle which occurred in 1950s between Baghdad and Damascus.
“In his book titled ‘Days I had lived,’ Maarouf said he submitted a proposal in 1950 to the then Iraqi Regent Prince Abdullelah over the relationship between Kuwait and Iraq. However, according to Maarouf, Price Abdullelah, in turn referred the proposal to the then Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Saeed and he told Maarouf, ‘oh Bu Jassem, you devastated Syria and now you intend to devastate Iraq.’

“Addressing Maarouf, Al-Saeed further added, ‘What to do with Kuwait. Our budget for the current fiscal year has recorded a surplus of 150 million Iraqi dinars. May God bless you, but keep your ideas limited to Syrian affairs.’ Anyway, Maarouf passed away in Beirut last summer.
“Consequently, one may suggest that the relationship between Kuwait and Iraq is in need of such far-sightedness. Also, wise men from both countries should sit together and solve all the suspended issues, away from ‘convulsions’ that are shown from time to time by some or the other party.”

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“The government is the biggest employer in Kuwait, and for Kuwaiti employees, it can almost be deemed the sole employer,” columnist Abdullatif Al-Duaij wrote for Al-Qabas daily Saturday.
“Therefore, we understand government’s concern while dealing with labor strikes and its determination to counter the same. We know that the government wants to confront labor strikes, because they may bring work at various authorities and corporations to a halt.  We, however, doubt if the strikes will have any negative effect on the output of these authorities and corporations, simply because each sector is heavily over-staffed.

“Needless to say, the government also represents a political power that is responsible for maintaining public order and enforcing laws, including the ‘law of the laws,’ which has called for the formation of unions and professional societies in the country and where these unions and societies reserve the right to defend the rights of its members. These rights include, among other things, the right of employees to go on strike, particularly since we know that the State of Kuwait has acceded many international treaties and covenants which guarantee the right to hold strikes. Not just that, these treaties and covenants allow workers to refrain from doing their job, in a bid to increase their stipends.”

“The blow-by-blow report, which was submitted by Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs, Minister of State for Development Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd during the recent extraordinary meeting of Cabinet, can be deemed as a step in the right direction, particularly in terms of achieving the targeted reforms that might be required for supporting the country’s development pursuant to Law No 9/2010,” columnist Nawaf Al-Hamly wrote for Al-Seyassah daily Saturday.
“In this context, one may refer that the country’s new development plan aims at carrying out as many as 798 projects at a total cost of KD 4 billion and this, per se represents a good achievement, provided the necessary mechanism required for implementing the said plan is drawn up with transparency.
“Such being the case, the government will have no excuse to justify its delay in carrying out the new development plan, simply because everything has been made clear in the framework of the plan. In fact, if the plan is implemented entirely, the country will not witness any political crisis and will realize significant development at the economic, social and sports levels.
“Recently, HH the Prime Minister was quoted as saying that any official who may prove inefficient in dealing with the country’s new development plan will be brought to book.
“One may suggest that parliamentary interpellations filed by lawmakers against ministers should not be seen as impediments in launching the implementation process of new development plan, particularly since we know that these interpellations are a constitutional tool in the hands of lawmakers who reserve the right to use the same when the need arises.”

“Some people say attempts are being made to undermine the Parliamentary institution in the country. These people also say some newspapers and columnists have devoted themselves to the task of attacking lawmakers and hint that some influential people in the country want to do away with the National Assembly and as such, are endeavoring to impede the activities of the legislative power in the country,” columnist and attorney Rashed Al-Radaan wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily Saturday.
“Some others, however, bestow praise on lawmakers saying they convey the enlightened thoughts of citizens and are always striving for public welfare.
“Recently, we were surprised to see two MPs exchanging accusations in an unprecedented manner. These two MPs were the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee Hussain Al-Huraiti and MP Khaled Al-Tahous. In this context, one may refer that Al-Huraiti was quoted by reporters as saying that the Minister of Interior did not mention the term ‘corruption’ while talking about his Ministry’s Investigation Department and hinted that Minutes of Meeting confirmed this fact.
“For his part, Al-Tahous, who also cited the Minutes of Meeting, said the minister said investigators abused the immunity which was given to them and added that many violations were committed in the department. He further described his colleague Al-Huraiti as a witness who has witnessed nothing.”

“The liberal writers or those who pretend to be so in my country are funny.  They have just defined the phrase ‘civil bloc’.  They arrived at this definition as if nobody else knows anything about civility,” Dr Abdul-Lateef Al-Marekh wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Civilized and enlightened people are the only ones who understand this inside out.  They have full knowledge of creativity, so they have right to describe those who contradict their opinion as retrogressing and backward or any other worst description.
“I was more surprised when they agitated for sticking to freedom of expression, while they were trivializing other opinions and worried when other people expressed their viewpoints about life.  They have been stressing the need to respect freedom, but they are the first to curtail it with their pens while using unprintable words and expressions for people to read.
“However, we salute and respect several other liberal writers of great honor.  The great writer Ahmad Al-Dayyen, Saleh Al-Shayeji, and captain of writers Sami Al-Nisf fall into this category. “

“It is not enough to receive numerous converts into Islam until the concerned authority provides a security to stabilize their lives and ensure that they do not fall victim to extremists and terrorists.  They should not end up learning methods of in-fighting or hostilities with their neighbors,” Faisal Abdul-Aziz Al-Zamel wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“This is the main reason why the Islamic Presentation Committee (IPC) of Al-Najat Charitable Society organized a two-week long ‘European-Kuwaiti Seminar’ for European converts. They invited 40 men and women converts from Belgium, Germany, Spain, Britain, France, Holland, Italy and Sweden, to participate in the seminar.

“The seminar was full of memorable programs — including lectures, symposia, visits to various places of interest, as well as desert and farm tours.  Some Kuwaiti families hosted them in their residences.
“Kuwait Regency Hotel provided commendable service to the visitors within the two weeks of their stay, forming a major aspect for successful hosting of the seminar. We pray that God will reward them and other contributors abundantly. 
“Contributions from donors, after blessing from God Almighty, have tremendous input in conversion of 3,727 people to Islam in Kuwait in 2009.  The number of converts through IPC — since its inception 32 years ago till date reached 47,000 — who have successfully attended training courses in 15 centers across the country.”  

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb