How far off are we from Abdullah Al-Salem’s State? History is made by those with free will
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CORRUPTION has become our daily norm to such an extent that we believe there is no cure for it, and that it is the inevitable fate that we formulated with our own hands. This happened after we abandoned the most important basis for building the state as established by the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem in the first government that was formed after independence in 1962. He had said, “I will not be like the third Caliph, Omar bin Khattab, but I will try my best to make Kuwait a country that its people are proud of as much as I am proud of them”.
This phrase was the path that every Kuwaiti aspired for. It formed the basis for the relationship between the government and the National Assembly when that relationship was based on harmony in serving the country and the people.
Therefore, during the early years of independence, Kuwait witnessed an active movement in the process of advancement and elevation to the ranks of modern countries. However, this changed with the beginning of the opposition’s deviation from the right national path, and the government’s unwillingness to contribute to fixing the imbalance. It led to the emergence of opposition fixated on personal demands and that seeks to conclude personal deals at the expense of the public interest. This was particularly prevalent after the liberation.
The opposition lacked the culture that is known in the world’s democracies to be based on clear programs to correct the course of government action, and legislation that serves the public interest and not a specific group of the people. This led to more social, economic and political setbacks.
On the other hand, the separation between the mandate of the covenant and the premiership of the government had a significant negative impact. It led to the instability of the ministerial position due to the desire of the Prime Minister not to risk his position for fear of political execution on the interpellation platform.
As a result, blackmail-based interpellations became the most used tool of MPs to seek the realization of the highest rate of personal gains. This was evident in the recent interpellation filed against the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali.
This interpellation led us to realize who incites whom, and how deals are conducted behind the scenes using clear corruption mechanisms. All this is due to the failure to work based on the rule established by the great late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem, and the absence of a sincere national opposition that is far from personal interests, like it was in the good old days.
In all the world’s democracies, the will of officials to serve the national interest converges, and the prime minister and senior leaders impose a reform path. They should have the ability to find and eliminate corruption sources, and not be lenient.
On the other hand, the executive authority shunned settlements at the expense of the state, the law, and the people.
If there is a serious intention and a sincere will to build the State of Kuwait that Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem sought and the first generation of independence men worked for, then there must be men who make history with a free will, because such people build a strong state.
It should be in the form of their dreams and ambitions through which they strive with all their energy to make it a country that its people are proud of; otherwise, it will be taken over by men whose position is greater than the people, and they hence lead the country to failure and loss.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
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