Constitution has flaws … Explain its virtues

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THE issue of forming the government had a strange twist when the newly appointed ministers submitted their resignation to His Highness the Prime Minister, resulting in the dissolution of their contract before it even saw the light of day.

There is a lot of talk about the unwillingness of certain personalities to occupy ministerial positions as they refused the offer, including sheikhs – members of the ruling family.

It would have been more effective if the search for ministers started on Aug 2; that is, immediately after the announcement of the decree to dissolve the National Assembly and setting the date of the elections, whereas the ministers remained until after the announcement of the election results.

This would have led to a solution to the unexpected crisis, especially since the appointment of the prime minister is an inherent right of the HH the Amir that no one can dispute with.  Thus, the stressful time factor would have been avoided in relation to the constitutional two-week period for the elected National Assembly to convene, choose the speaker and members of the parliamentary office, vote on granting the appointed government confidence, and then electing the parliamentary committees.

As for the ministerial posts offered to this or that person who rejected the offer, this happens only in Kuwait; not in any other country around the world.  Everyone seeks to be in such a position, but works on the principle, “they refrain while they are willing,” in addition to ‘personalism’ in desires, as the person who is offered the position demands for a certain ministry, and that he has such and such conditions.

Is it conceivable that opinions were not sampled throughout the period between the issuance of the dissolution decree and the announcement of the election?

Is it reasonable for the country to remain in a legislative and executive vacuum until this and that is satisfied, and for two governments to handle urgent matters?

What happened in the past few days and the political habits that were established throughout the past six decades of Kuwaiti democracy confirm that there is a recurring mistake in the political field which, in turn, is reflected in other fields – economic, developmental and social; leading to a continuous development decline and abortion of solutions to the economic problems that the country has been suffering from.

Therefore, it must be emphasized that what is currently happening cannot help crystallize a healthy relationship between the two authorities, because concessions started from the first moment. 

The pressure exerted and exercised on His Highness the Prime Minister means that at the first juncture, the door of interrogations will open, especially after the loss of common language between the two authorities.  This means we will witness the interrogation of a minister every month, and perhaps His Highness the Prime Minister as well, such that we will go back to square one.

Undoubtedly, there is a shortcoming in the vision and in the nature of the relationship between the National Assembly and ministers.  Perhaps, this is the result of erroneous interpretation of the Constitution, which must be amended to grant more freedoms and establish good relations with the Constitution in accordance with Article 175.  This is in addition to enhancing flexibility in the relationship between the two authorities such that one does not dominate the other, as is the case at present.  It has prevailed over the past years – when it became clear that every MP sees himself as an amir who can disrupt the government any time he wants or that MPs deliberately kill the government immediately after its birth, as it happened recently.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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