HARDLINERS MPs LOOKING FOR ‘FALSE VICTORY IN AN EASY BATTLE’

■ Canceling classes means that the government is unable to exercise its authority and that the parliamentarians have become guardians
■ What the parliament’s Ethics Committee imposed contradicts the societal customs and culture that have prevailed in Kuwait since the state existed
■ Insisting on implementing the coed ban in this way increases social backwardness and reflects a lack of confidence in young people
■ The current guardianship is the second stage of seizing the reins of society, and there is great fear of what will happen in the future
■ The government is a “pushover” and the decline in legislation is due to the absence of a Cabinet decision
■ The decision costs the state budget a lot, in addition to other complications in the educational process
■ Will the Ethics Committee order the segregation of female state employees from male employees in government departments in the coming days?!
■ The region is going through difficult circumstances that call for a confrontation strategy instead of disagreements over “segregation or not.”
■ Have we returned to the era of the Brotherhood of Safa. Is the approach of ISIS, the Taliban, and the “supreme leader” being imposed on us?!

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 16: For a parliamentary committee to become a de facto authority is something that does not bode well at all. This committee summoning a minister and the director of the university and ordering them to implement its visions means that the Council of Ministers has become incapable of exercising its authority, there are a few parliamentarians who are guardians of it, and the vision must be implemented on all even though it violates the constitution and laws. Informed political circles took notice of this matter and said, “What was imposed by the parliament’s Ethics Committee contradicts the societal customs and culture that have prevailed in Kuwait since the inception of the state.”

They wished that such an alignment by parliamentarians of the Islamic movement had occurred on issues related to raising the standard of living of citizens, such as by increasing salaries and raising the minimum pension for retirees. They expressed their fear that the hardline position on the issue of banning coeducation would be in search of a “victory” that would improve the image of some in their own electoral bases after their failure so far in improving the standard of living of citizens. They warned that insisting on implementing the ban in this way increases social backwardness.

They asked, “Do the committee members not trust Kuwaiti youth to this extent? Are they not the leaders of society in the future?” They said the guardianship imposed by the Ethics Committee on the Minister of Education and Higher Education and the administration of Kuwait University is the second stage of seizing the reins of society. They recalled the controversy that arose in the council regarding Article No. 16 in the draft election law submitted by the government, stressing that, “There is great fear that what comes will be greater than what we see today.”

They said, “This decline in Kuwaiti legislation is due to the absence of a decision from the Council of Ministers, which has become a pushover. Whenever an MP comes out with a statement, the government acquiesces to him. In this regard, many Kuwaitis ask - Is there no one who has the ability to stop this absurdity?” The sources close to the higher decision-making circles said, “It goes without saying that such a decision, and others to which the government is subject, costs the state budget a lot. If segregating students costs KD 200 million annually, not to mention the other disruptions in the educational process, this indicates that there is no prudence in approaching any of these issues.

There are questions that Kuwaitis are asking, and they must be answered, such as “Will the Ethics Committee order the segregation of female state employees from its male employees in the coming days? Will about 60 percent of the workers in the public sector be women? Will the committee summon the Minister of Finance and order him to act according to what it sees, or will it impose on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to act according to its directives?” At a time when the region is facing difficult and sensitive circumstances, and there are direct and indirect threats to Kuwait, instead of working to develop a confrontation strategy that protects the country, the members of this committee and other parliamentarians come out with outdated blasphemy and impose it on society values that are alien to this community.

That is why some Kuwaitis are asking, “Where is the state heading? Has the compass been lost? Is this committee now leading the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers? Why this complete silence in the face of practices that no country in the world followed except Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban?” On the other hand, there are observers who wonder, “Have we returned to the era of the Al-Safa and Al-Wafa brothers, who worked to change the philosophy of the Islamic State by putting pressure on the rulers indirectly and declaring all who oppose them as infidels? Or was the approach of ISIS and the Taliban forcefully imposed on us; and the “supreme leader” who rules through his own visions, and not through the constitution and the law?”

The political circles said, “Despite all the campaigns in the press and social media, and despite the enormity of this decision, the Council of Ministers is still deaf and dumb. It does not hear and does not move a finger. Rather, the ministers, as soon as any MP calls on them, tremble and sweat, and this has led to confusion.

This is a foolish thing, and we no longer know what the mission of the Council of Ministers is, or even that of the National Assembly. It has reached the extent of Kuwait becoming a laughingstock in the world. Doesn’t the government, and those who have the decision-making power, know the country’s interests and work to protect them? Or is the matter left to some parliamentarians?” They concluded by saying, “While the people were waiting for the repeal of some laws restricting freedoms, here is a parliamentary committee that ignores all of this and imposes further retrogress. This requires standing up to that, even if the matter requires dissolving the National Assembly, or the departure of the government. Enough is enough … It is unfortunate that there is no one to stop this nonsense.”