Elections … Everyone is beating their own drums

This news has been read 39909 times!

ALTHOUGH the outcome of the upcoming National Assembly elections are yet to be known, the battle has become so intense today that everyone has revealed their faces because each party wants to prove to the people that it was the right one.

However, all candidates are missing the fact that people are no longer betting on rhetoric, but are seeking the results they are aspiring for, especially after the four successive governments revealed their inability to meet the people’s demands, and parliamentarians revealed their inability to work on achieving the most basic of the people’s demands.

The candidate Marzouq Al-Ghanim, who knows how to handle twists and turns in his capacity as the speaker of the National Assembly for nearly nine years, is well aware of the state’s pains and the style of governments. He therefore seeks to become the National Assembly speaker as per his aspiration, or he will be in opposition, and his voice will be loud in criticism. He will be a bitter opponent of his rival in the speakership, something that the government does not want.

In this situation, there is no doubt that things will not change. There is no glimmer of hope to get out of the impasse, and for this reason, the government is required to be very bold in dealing with the challenges facing the people. It should not take the same path that it took in the past years, as it would be as if it was spinning in a vicious circle, and hence will not achieve its goal of controlling the parliament.

During the past decades, people used to view the government as the decision-maker with the capabilities of implementation. Unfortunately, it did not hear the voice of the people, but rather listened to the confusion of the advisors, which is why it appeared weak.

In this regard, the government is like the shepherd who collected some butter in a jar and hung it on the ceiling of his hut. While he was sitting one day and leaning on his stick, he started daydreaming about what he would do with the butter, how he would have a large flock, and how he would hit the wolf with his stick when it attacked the sheep. At this point, the shepherd reflexed, in an attempt to scare off the wolf in his mind, and he hit the jar and broke it. This caused the butter to fall on his face and clothes, making him wake up from his dream which went in vain. This is how the government’s popularity fades away.

Indeed, this is how the Kuwaiti governments are betting on the popularity of some ministers, and not on sound planning and decision. They are floundering a lot in this matter, as they issue an order today and cancel it tomorrow, while they did not present a single populist project. Instead, it burdens people with procedures that increase the burdens of living, such as the cost for the treatment of expatriates that the citizens have to pay, closing the country to investors, its arbitrary practice in terms of physical coercion on borrowers, and other crises that it caused through its floundering decisions.

To date, we have not seen a state project or plan that can be relied upon and was accepted by the people. In fact, we often see the government drowning in an inch of battle with the National Assembly. What is going on in the electoral arena indicates a return to the game of interpellations and non-cooperation that will lead to the dissolution or revocation of the parliament. Hence, there will be no way out of the crisis that the country is enduring from.

Because of this, what is required is a capable government that has the capabilities to manage the country according to what every citizen wishes, and a plan for a state project.

As for continuing to produce the same conflict, it only means more losses, and the state is eroding its prestige. It is unfortunate in these elections that everyone is beating their own drums.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 39909 times!