This has been absent since 1962 when Kuwait witnessed the formation of its first Cabinet. Since then, 47 governments have come and gone, comprising of about 530 ministers. Successive governments have worked to appease or placate the National Assembly on one hand, and influential figures on the other hand, to protect ministers from parliamentary grilling, or to prevent the entire government from having a confrontation with the Assembly. For the past six decades, Kuwait has been caught between the hammer of hesitation and the anvil of inaction in project implementation, because there has been no genuine vision or development strategy due to the conflict between the executive and legislative authorities, in addition to the negative effect of the influential people who are working only to augment their personal interests. At the same time, ministerial positions were unstable.

Therefore, ministers opted to deal with issues in a temporary manner, knowing beforehand that they would not remain in office to complete the realization of their visions. Consequently, ministers would leave matters unresolved until their successors arrived. This way, the ministers relieved themselves of any burdens and avoided political accountability from the Parliament.

One manifestation of that era was the encroachment of MPs on the powers of ministers, and even the government as a whole, up to the point where one MP could halt a minister’s decision through a single telephone call. These practices made the State incur enormous public fund losses and damaged its reputation. As a result, the country was paralyzed, and its economy suffered from decline.

Today, the situation is completely different, taking into consideration the opportunities that are available to the incumbent Cabinet, which must seize all of these opportunities if possible. It is better late than never, especially since the current government has both the executive and legislative powers. Any hesitation in decision-making will cost the government dearly. It could incur losses that it could have avoided. The government must study decisions carefully to ensure it leaves no loopholes that could lead to reversals. In recent months, we have witnessed several measures that experts considered hasty, forcing the Cabinet to reverse them. These measures resulted in public fund losses, harmed the people, and ruined the reputation of the Cabinet.

Undoubtedly, this reflects harmful hesitation at all levels. Thus, any action must be carefully studied, particularly its repercussions on the economy and the people from all angles. For example, I have repeatedly stated that infrastructure projects -- whether related to services, entertainment or other areas -- could make Kuwait save billions that are currently spent abroad. Joy was previously prohibited, so Kuwaitis and residents sought it abroad. This is just a small part of what entertainment projects can provide. The same applies to health, medicine, education, and many other projects that Kuwait needs. Certainly, success is possible if there is a vision. Some doors open only once in a lifetime. Hesitation is the graveyard of opportunities. So, we say to His Highness the Prime Minister, “Seize the opportunity as soon as it appears.”