‘Use powers to rectify course’

08/01/2024

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‘Why is the Constitution not fully implemented? Without a doubt, the accumulations left by the ambiguous relationship between the executive and the legislative authorities over the past two decades have cast a shadow on the general situation in the country and prompted many Kuwaitis to raise a specific question: Why did the legislative authority fail to address the concerns of the people?”

“From this question, a desire was born among a broad segment of the young generation to search for a way out of the crisis, because they are victims of what happened in recent years. There were many ideas about what could be done to get out of the impasse, while the question of young people today is: Why does the leadership not use the constitutional powers granted to them to change the landscape as a whole?

“The Constitution stipulates the leadership’s powers and outlines ways out of any crisis. However, the political exaggeration that has been practiced for decades regarding the use of these powers has cast a shadow over everything, while those keen on keeping the situation as it is consider any change a violation.

“On the call for changing the social contract, they deliberately forgot that nothing in the Constitution suggests its suspension, but there is a provision for its development within a certain mechanism and it does not violate the social contract.

“When about 65 people act like rulers and each of them has a wrong understanding of the text, then correction must be made even if it is through a painful surgical procedure because the fate and future of Kuwait are not dependent on what the lawmaker and the minister see, as they are merely seeking to maintain temporary privileges that they are trying to preserve for the longest possible period.

“The constitutional text states that Kuwait is a monarchy even if the names differ. Hence, the head of State has many powers that he can use to address the imbalance, which surfaced after the liberation.

“Correcting the course and restoring relations between the authorities begin with a test that seems difficult for some, yet it is the only solution — to start the constitutional procedures outside the norm, not outside the text.

“This means there should not be multiple heads of the State, while it is under the command of one leader who chooses whoever he wants to assist him in approving laws and to choose whomever he deems appropriate to exercise his powers through the ministers.

“The appointment of Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem as Prime Minister gives the people a glimmer of hope in starting the correction workshop.

“Nevertheless, it still requires a capable ministerial team, as well as a consultative legislative authority, more than an authoritarian legislature that undermines the Constitution and infringes on the executive powers of the head of State.

“Article 50 of the Constitution clearly states: ‘The system of Government is based on the principle of separation of powers functioning in cooperation with each other by the provisions of the Constitution. None of these powers may relinquish all or part of its competence specified in this Constitution.’

“Article 51 clearly defines the legislative power of the Head of State: ‘The legislative power is vested in the Amir and the National Assembly by the Constitution.’ ‘Thus, when the Assembly contradicts this article, it is violating the authority of the head of State.

“It also violates Article 52 because it limits the head of State’s exercise of his authority. This article states: “The legislative power is vested in the Amir and the National Assembly by the Constitution.’ “Therefore, the solution is to re-correct the course by exercising the powers, which can neither be divided into two nor misinterpreted.”