Oh leadership …save the country
This news has been read 35614 times!
IT IS painful to see that your country has been transformed into a den of problems and crises, where every official steps aside and lets matters take the weakest course.
When a problem occurs in any part of the world — except the failed states that lost their national immunity, the leadership assumes responsibilities and holds the reins firmly, not only with regard to corruption which was described by HH the late Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad as: “…cannot be carried even by two camels,” given that you find an official falling into even the tiniest lapses. This applies to monarchies, republics and oldest democracies due to the fact that any defect in the building causes its destruction.
How about if the State is paralyzed, torn apart by personal whims and tribal, sectarian and regional affiliations; and personal interests prevail, while the law that was originally established to achieve justice and organize society is overlooked?!
Despite this, loopholes remain in the laws through which the corrupt infiltrate. They exploit such laws in the courts by prolonging the documentary cycle until either the plaintiff dies or the case is dismissed.
Hence, leaders must put matters in the right course, especially when corruption is rampant; and the beneficiaries have become a tribal, sectarian or partisan group or members of the Parliament.
This is the case in Kuwait, where parliamentarians saw only the negative side of democracy, so the rule of ‘scratch my back and I scratch yours’ became the key that opened the doors of power for looters and crooks.
‘Tough times need tough measures.’ We want to ask: Is it not unjust for the citizen if he sees someone, who embezzled public money, not held accountable; while he (the citizen) is on the verge of starvation? Is this not tantamount to people killing one another? Does the power given to the leader, in his capacity as ‘the father of powers and trustee of the Constitution and laws’, not allow him to rule with an iron fist to bring justice to the iron of corruption which, if it continues, will undoubtedly threaten the fate of the State?
“Sometimes the State or any country is forced to seek the help of experts from abroad, especially if its advisors fail to find solutions that serve public interest; or if the solution comes from partisan, tribal and sectarian background. China did this — being ruled by an iron party consisting of many intellectuals. When its commander saw that it was suffering from starvation and on the brink of bankruptcy, the leader sought the help of a British expert of Iraqi origin in order to reorganize its economy which, within 30 years, became second in the world.
Did some countries not seek the help of Western and European legal experts to establish a coherent legal system, and in a few years they joined the first ranks in terms of transparency and integrity? Did Rwanda not take such a step, as it lived through a civil war for years, and when it had a strong leadership, it became the fastest developing country in the world?
Did Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and other countries not seek the help of experts from abroad to launch the greatest projects? Did the leadership not issue orders which became a reality?
On the other hand in today’s Kuwait, is there any reliable infrastructure? Do we have a reliable economy or does our income consist of oil that we sell and foreign investments, such that, we are always exposed to crises in the event that prices decline repeatedly?
We have tried this dozens of times, the most recent of which was the 2008 crisis. Now, the US banks are failing above all the looting of our investments during the invasion and occupation.
Majority of the people of Kuwait have been crying out loudly for six decades: “Take advantage of the desert in development projects, industrial, food security and tourism like the neighboring countries, which took their ideas from Kuwait and worked with them; while we are currently walking on potholed roads, a corrupt educational structure and a rigid economy.”
Do we have hospitals and health centers for 20 million people? Why not take advantage of the situation by transforming Kuwait into a hospital in the Middle East? Look at the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and learn from them.
The groaning of the people has become a cry, especially since they see the prohibition in projects whose millions are turned into yachts and wasted in gambling halls.
Therefore, there is nothing left for the people but the leadership that has all the powers to stop what the country is going through. This is why the people are saying: “O leadership, Kuwait is calling you, rescue it from the oppression of the corrupt, from the halt of development, and the alarming retrogression.”
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
This news has been read 35614 times!
