“IT is obvious the Arabian Gulf region, our political periphery, at the moment is passing through a new detour in the face of the current situation and arrangements,” columnist and former Secretary-General of the Kuwait Democratic Forum Ahmed Al-Dyain wrote for Alam Alyawm daily Thursday.

“Needless to say the associations linked to this detour will reflect on us, not because we are one of the countries in this part of the world, but because we will find ourselves directly involved in many events which are likely to occur in the region and this means we must carefully observe what is currently surrounding us and deal with the expected situations and arrangements wisely and cautiously.

“Given the above, we believe the fatherly message of HH the Amir, may the Almighty Allah bless him, which was conveyed by the Speaker of the National Assembly Jassem Al-Khorafi to the MPs falls within these expected events which are like to engulf the Gulf region.
“In this context, we say such situations have surfaced in Iraq in the wake of the parliamentary elections which were held recently in that country. However, it looks like the arrangements that are linked to these elections will be there for a long period, because the situation in Iraq is too complicated and look vague and ramified with some US and regional agendas.

“In other words, the Iraqi situation will remain open to many expected developments, given the fact the instability in Iraq will reflect on Kuwait, mostly revolving around outstanding issues between Kuwait and Iraq including the issue of compensation and debts payable by Iraq to Kuwait, with the international community calling on Kuwait to write off or at least lower the percentage of deductions from the sale of Iraqi oil which goes into the compensation fund.

“Needless to say this issue has become very sensitive for Kuwaitis and as such it must pass through the National Assembly ‘gate’.
“Apart from the above, we say there are some other issues such the remains of Kuwaiti martyrs in Iraq which have yet to be found, the demarcation of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq and the issue of farmers who have become a bone of contention for both countries.
“In this regard, we suggest these issues should be handled in a manner that serves Kuwait’s interests in the framework of international arrangements and bilateral negotiations between Kuwait and Iraq.

“Furthermore, there are some arrangements related to the withdrawal of most of the US troops from Iraq and the redeployment of the remaining troops and this means this withdrawal period will very important, particularly since we know that most of the withdrawn troops will return home via Kuwait.
“In other words, Kuwait will find itself becoming a party to the pertinent withdrawal process not on the logistic level only, but in the framework of arrangements and their outcome between the United States of America and Iraq and the reflections of these arrangements on Kuwait.

“Meanwhile, we expect Kuwait to face another challenge if great powers agree to impose new sanctions on Iran particularly under the fostering relationship between Kuwait and Iran. Not just that, we wonder what will happen if the Zionists attacks Iran militarily.
“In light of the above regional challenges and the pertinent arrangements we expect Kuwaiti to face another challenge — how to deal with all the above challenges in light of our national interests based on our modest potentials.

“However, since the situation is very delicate the MPs must refrain from issuing glib statements over these issues which different parties may misconstrue in many ways and blow the issues out of proportion.
“The regional issues should be discussed by the government and the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee or by the government and the MPs behind closed doors.”

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“The persistence of political arguments among Iraqi blocs, which won the recent parliamentary elections, on the formation of a new government and choosing a new prime minister and ministers and filling ‘sovereign posts’, will actually lead to the escalation of violence by the al-Qaeda forces. Not only that the al-Qaeda forces will find their way back into some provinces which earlier were their traditional strongholds,” columnist Dr Mohammad Alyusefi wrote for Awan daily Thursday.
“Unfortunately, the democratic regime entails that the winning bloc - in case of a parliamentary majority — should form the government. And whereas, since the winning bloc — the Iraqi Bloc led by the former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi — has won more seats than any other bloc and in spite of this fact, it will not be in a position to form a new government alone and this means this bloc will be forced to weave coalitions with other blocs and this will throw the door wide open to difficult political bargaining at the expense of the security aspect of the country.
“In this context, we say what is strange at the moment is every parliamentary bloc wants to see a new prime minister from their side. In other words, none of these blocs want to sit with the opposition, rather all of them want to share power and this is against democracy which is made of the government and the opposition.
“Although the official census shows British Muslims account for 2.5 million and this means Muslims at the moment have become part and parcel and effective components of the social, economic and political life in Britain, the emotions of British Muslims continue to be violated,” columnist Salem Al-Nashi wrote for Arrouiah daily Friday.
“Recently, the British army built mock mosques at the shooting range in Yorkshire and destroyed them during military maneuvers. This development has shocked the British Muslims and raised anger among them.
“The Bradford Mosques Council has issued a statement calling for removing the mock mosques immediately. Not just that, the Council has called on the British Defence Office to apologize to Islam and Muslims.
“As a matter of the fact, the British Muslims represent the biggest religious minority in the United Kingdom — three percent of the entire population. In this context, we say the increasing number of Muslims in Britain can be attributed to three factors — increase in immigrant Muslims to the UK, the increasing number of Muslims born in that country (as many as 50 percent) and the increasing number of the UK citizens embracing Islam, given the fact the existence of Islam in Britain dates back to 1700 AD.”

“Article 117 of the Constitution stipulates ‘The National Assembly shall lay down its standing orders which shall include the procedure of the Assembly and its committees, and the rules pertaining to discussion, voting, questions, interpellation and all other functions prescribed in the Constitution. The standing orders shall prescribe the sanctions to be imposed on any member who violates order or absents himself from the meetings of the Assembly or the committees without a legitimate excuse’,” columnist Yaqoub Al-Sane wrote for Al-Qabas daily Friday.
“A study prepared by Dr Adel Al-Tabtabaei on the regulations of the Kuwaiti Constitution, shows every Parliament session must generate a resolution and this means every MP must get involved in the process by either voting in favor of the resolution or rejecting it because abstaining from voting has no place in the Kuwaiti Constitution.
“Not just that, the study in question shows abstaining from voting during parliamentary sessions contravenes the parliamentary functions, namely the legislation and surveillance as well as the responsibility of the relevant MPs towards their voters.
“Speaking of Article 73 of the Constitution which provides ‘The Amir shall, by decree, issue sanctions and regulations necessary for the organizations of public services and administration, not conflicting with any law’, the study said the text of this article is clear that those who abstain from voting is unacceptable.”

“I was watching MP Saleh Al-Mullah’s interview on Al-Rai TV and his comment on the development plan attracted my attention. The development plan allows the government to change course, if necessary, without seeking approval from the National Assembly, which means MPs won’t be able to use the interpellation tool,” columnist Dr Faisal Al-Shareefi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Another fact that may hinder the implementation of the development plan is the absence of required legislations like the privatization law. The government will be forced to halt the implementation of projects to seek approval from the assembly on such matters.”

“The Popular Bloc members feel that their attendance at any preparatory or preliminary Parliamentary meeting will weaken their position as the opposition party,” columnist Nahar Amer Al-Mahfouth wrote for Al-Nahar daily.
“The bloc members feel their absence from such meetings and other friendly meetings boosts their popularity, as well as strengthens their position among parliamentary blocs, since they are representing the opposition stand. They feel the opposition has to be absolute, which includes refusing to attend meetings with other lawmakers and refusing invitations extended by Prime Minister for preparatory meetings.
“Moreover, the bloc members refuse to attend causal meetings which help in saving time of the National Assembly. In these meetings, prior agreement with lawmakers is made so that time is not wasted in discussing the agenda and determining priorities during the session. There is no doubt that the bloc is playing the opposition role, but it lacks organizing skills.”

“Wherever you go, there are crowds - in the markets, cooperative societies, malls, hospitals, streets and everywhere else and they are all expatriates,” columnist Hadeel Bader BuGrais wrote for Al-Dar daily.
“We tried to imitate the lifestyle of Dubai, but we succeeded only in bringing more and more expatriates into the country, nothing else.
“According to latest statistics published in local newspapers, expatriates, mostly Asians, constitute 68 percent of the total population of Kuwait. There are 1.10 million Kuwaitis, which is just 32 percent of the total population. The question is: Why to bring expatriates now when Kuwaitis have proved themselves in every field?”

“The government claims that we are heading towards development and launched a development plan to prove the claim. It demanded ministries and officials take necessary steps and even entrusted certain officials with the task of following up projects. It also issued directives regarding the establishment of opera theater and other cultural centers in various governorates,” columnist Mohammed Al-Mullah wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“Whoever reads government’s claims will definitely be happy, but the reality is quite different.
“The government is making all the right moves, but it is forgetting that the executive body is ‘sick.’ Some of the officials are so ignorant that they don’t know anything. Also, there are some consultants whose expertise is restricted to wearing the national dress and receiving senior officials and visitors in their office.”

“Late Sheikh Jaber Al-Ali, may God rest his soul in peace, continues to remain a radiant figure in the world of information and is still remembered for enriching the Kuwaiti Informational Library with documents and books in all fields of art, music, library science and Kuwaiti culture,” columnist Tareq Edres wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“Sheikh Jaber Al-Ali died, but the library still has all the books he collected and these should be made available to the current generation to benefit from this great collection of art, culture and literature.
“In an interview, one of Kuwait’s pioneers Abu Saleh Al-Roomi rued that the Marine Heritage Library is being neglected. He said he collected several items for the library on the directives of late Jaber Al-Ali and lamented that the library is in dire state due to the negligence of officials in the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL). He noted that he and his team mates toiled to collect records and all kinds of first ‘Nahams’ and other heritage items.
“These pioneers exerted efforts in collecting literary and artistic items so that the next generation gets to know about the kind of life they led.”

“Undoubtedly, it is a remarkable progress in behavior, social development and civilized interaction, seeing that some Sheikhs, ministers, the MPs, tribesmen, and others who follow different doctrines, these days resort to the judiciary if humiliated,” Rashid Al-Radaan wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily.
“This implies we no longer endure oppression, and we are beginning to give up the principle of vengeance without relying on the Court. In the past, people eagerly awaited the kind of punishment citizens who criticized or humiliated officials would receive, and it is really satisfying to see ordinary citizens and officials turn to the judiciary to settle disputes and seek justice.”

“We have now realized the Popular Labor Bloc is shrouded and buried politically, judging by its calmness which contradicts the usual noisy symbol of the bloc,” Ahmad Bin Fahad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“The popular Bloc has been through one disaster and another, so its spokespersons do not have any alternative other than try to rescue the group from embarrassment. The members are almost buried in the same political cemetery with their bloc. Perhaps, the country may be free from undesirable activities by the group, and its sibling i.e. the Development Bloc.
“The National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi recently called for a meeting with the lawmakers to deliver a message from His Highness the Amir, which members of the Popular Bloc should have attended as a sign of respect for the father of the nation. Their absence at the meeting was an affirmation of the above statement, and it was a real political blunder”.

“A French contemporary sociologist, in a book ‘Political Calamity in the Middle East,’ said Arab and Islamic civilizations are suffering due to three shocks in their history,” columnist Mohammad Hilal Al-Khaldi wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The first shock is the failure to accomplish unity between Shiites and Sunnis since the martyrdom of the third Caliph Ottoman Bin Afan; the second is the inability of Arab nations to unite since the fall of Ottoman Empire in 1923, because the Arab League did not succeed in asserting authority concerning ongoing issues within the region. The third shock is the planting of a Jewish state in the heart of the region through the 1948 occupation.
“It is really shocking that age-old civilizations, which comprise of 22 Arab countries and 58 Islamic nations with enormous human and natural resources, cannot play vital roles and fall victims at every point.”

“Nobody will be satisfied if political discussions turn to ceremony of insults, where all kinds of rude manners are witnessed. The situation primarily affects those deviating from the customs and tradition of our society, “Jasim Boodai wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“On the face of it, there are individuals who are keen on deteriorating the political situation in the country. Violating laws and exploiting the public funds could be their method of executing the plan. Moreover, respect for political dialogue is a request, which must be initiated inside the Abdullah Al-Salem Hall”.

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb