We live in anxiety

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IT seems that we are outside the region, or even the world, as if we are on a planet light years away from here, considering what is happening in the region. It seems as if the country is without a prime minister who is enjoying a long vacation even though internal or external events require him to be at the helm of his work.

Certainly, Kuwait must be present in all files and should have its say, as it did throughout the past six decades, especially with regard to its regional and global political role.

Whenever you ask a minister about an issue, he tells you that His Highness the Prime Minister is on vacation, and no step can be taken without his presence.

In local affairs, parliamentary agendas are filled with intimidations and threats to grill more than four ministers. There is also the threat to hold His Highness the Prime Minister personally accountable. As the session approaches, there must be an effective movement internally.

Also, with regard to crystallizing the vision for the next stage, a parliamentary group of 48 MPs announced its plan, and is waiting for the ministerial coordination committee to agree on the plan, even though it does not meet the people’s ambitions.

Indeed, since the announcement of the formation of the new Council of Ministers, we have not seen any achievement either in health, housing, or infrastructure sectors, or in addressing citizens’ loans, or the problems of retirees and students.

Rather, all that we see are published pictures of His Highness the Prime Minister on his long vacation; this of course leaves citizens multiplying fifths by sixths.

Even when the chief executive officer in any country goes on leave, there is a team or office that monitors and works to develop a solution to the problems, informs the boss of the problems first and foremost, and makes proposals for solutions, which are quickly approved.

This is due to the fact that the responsibilities placed on the shoulders of the fourth man in the state are much greater than any duties or comfort.

There is no doubt that everyone needs to relax, but not in times of the complex circumstances transpiring in the region. The local and regional challenges are many, and the drums of war are beating to the point of deafening the ears.

As the Council of Ministers is deaf, have some of our officials become disconnected from reality to this extent?

In other countries, officials do not leave the field, but instead follow people’s concerns and learn about what is disturbing their lives.

Some of them even disguise themselves in order to avoid attracting attention, follow the work of government departments, and not miss out on events, as vacations are canceled in the event of any emergency.

Even in countries with long-standing democracy, the person responsible for monitoring is never absent, because he is followed by the people and the representatives. What if many files are open regarding developments, some of which determine the national destiny?

In those countries, there is a government office that reports directly to the prime minister or whoever is in charge of the matter. It measures the concerns of public opinion and problems, but takes opinions that are in the interest of the state, works to crystallize them into proposed laws, monitors the implementation of the laws, extracts the bad from them, and works to amend them.

As for what we have, there are laws that have become outdated and are no longer valid for this era. When any problem occurs, the response is that the law restricts us to its provisions, whether it is in the municipality, finance, public works, investments, internal and external, and many other institutions.

With all these problems and crises facing the region including Kuwait, the first executive official is absent, and the Council of Ministers becomes effectively without a head, as if Kuwait is left to the unknown. This calls for the question – Isn’t this what raises concerns about what lies ahead if things continue like this?

Unfortunately, we do not have field officials knocking on the doors of problems and working to solve them, as is done in countries around the world. We live in anxiety, and perhaps in distress.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 2305 times!