Most election candidates turn diwaniyas into campaign hubs

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KUWAIT CITY, March 28: Most of the 2024 National Assembly election candidates have opted to use their diwaniyas as campaign centers where they hold meetings with their constituents, instead of setting up tents for this purpose as practiced in previous elections. In the 2022 elections, Kuwait Municipality issued 187 licenses for campaign tents or centers; 128 in 2023 and only 86 this year. Candidates are also keen on visiting the diwaniyas of their constituents in a bid to strengthen communication lines and direct contact with them.

In addition, candidates also utilize podcast interviews to reach out to voters. Since the election is being held in Ramadan, candidates have been taking advantage of the occasion to invite people to celebrate Ramadan evenings with them including Ghabqa.

Meanwhile, former MP and Fourth Constituency candidate Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi urged Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah to intensify efforts to deal with election violations. He disclosed that in the previous election, the Ministry of Interior focused on combating forgery and vote-buying. He inquired why the ministry did not launch a hotline for receiving reports on such violations from the citizens. While the campaigns for the 2024 National Assembly elections, scheduled on April 4, are in full swing, a number of Kuwaiti athletes and officials called on candidates to highlight issues related to sports and its development. In several interviews with KUNA, they affirmed that development sports in Kuwait was as vital as any other sector in the country, deeming it as a necessity.

Lawmakers in Kuwait should and must set their vision on boosting sports in the country to revitalize this important domain, Olympian shooter and champion Abdullah Al-Turqi told KUNA. Al-Turqi indicated that since Kuwaiti population has a majority of youth, the quest to develop sports in the country was not something trivial. Those involved in sports, whether athletes or officials, are eager to see Kuwaiti sports soar high, the Kuwaiti athlete indicated, noting that 2024 National Assembly candidates have the chance to bring such issues into the limelight. He stressed that sports occupied the youths’ time and made them veer off illicit activities such as reckless driving and God forbid narcotics. On his part, President of the Kuwaiti Winter Games Club Fehaid Al-Ajmi affirmed that sports must take center stage in political discourse, expressing bewilderment over the lack of sports issues in some of the candidates’ rhetoric.

Finding solutions to problems plaguing sports development in the country and boosting the “soft power” impact of sports are indicators of countries that seek true progress, he stressed. Public and private sports clubs and entities all deserve attention, affirmed Al-Ajmi, adding that the youth of Kuwait were worthy of such care. Also giving a similar input, head of the women committee at the Kuwaiti Karate Federation Souad Al-Roumi indicated that sports was sort of a language that connected nations and reflected positively on overall development. She said that recent upsets in Kuwaiti sports might attribute to lack of attention on part of lawmakers who should do their utmost to address all challenges facing athletes in the country and finding means to overcome them.

She also stressed that women sports must also be included in the discussion to have an overall impact on the development of Kuwaiti sports. Candidates might have a lack of knowledge when it came to sports, Dr. Hamad Majed — a sports consultant — told KUNA. The absence of a clear national program for sports also might contribute the seeming disinterest in sports by some candidates, Majed said, calling on lawmakers to set aside their political differences when it came to this vital issue for many of the youths in the country. He stressed that winners of the elections must include sports development in their agenda when reaching parliament, saying that developing sports was part of Kuwait Vision 2035.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff and Agencies

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