TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012
LOCAL
kuwait digest
letter to Badrya
Start loving our Mother Earth
Concerns about liquor smuggling
Dear Badrya,
M
y name is Prashob, an Indian currently living in Salmiya on a driver’s visa. Whenever I get hold of Kuwait Times, I see your article on the front page. I am really excited to read your work, in fact your articles criticize constructively. You always have a solution for every situation. I have heard that a good journalist should be resourceful. Even you have the ability to always find a solution to difficult situations that can reach a dead end. On June 5 which was Environment Day, I expected you to write a few words on disappearing greenery. I feel that the main crisis facing the world today is the lack of adequate green cover on earth. In Kuwait, the government gives importance to several other things like the well-being of its citizens, but it is not much concerned about the environment. Here many apartment buildings keep mushrooming and the city is developing by the day. At the same time, the government should take an initiative to plant at least 10 saplings around one apartment building. By doing this, we can surely reduce dust storm which is a common happening in Middle Eastern countries. In Gulf countries, the temperature is very high during summer and during winter, it drops below zero degree Celsius. By planting trees some balance can be restored. If you write an article on this matter, I am sure someone will notice and put pressure on the government to act. I say this because you have the courage to write and stand for justice. Hope you have great days ahead, Prashob Madathil
By Hamad Al Sarie
A
fter stopping two containers loaded more than 1500 cartons of alcohol on June 12, 2012 by customs authorities and drug enforcement officials, it was learned that those containers were consigned to the US army. I have star ted researching that case and collected information with one question in my head, how
In the beginning, the US army used to monitor every small thing happening, but after withdrawing from Iraq, and keeping their forces in Kuwait, things have changed.
kuwait digest
kuwait digest
Opposition’s ceiling of demands
A spectacular democracy! By Dr. Shamlan Yousif Al-Essa
By Dr Hassan Abbas
A
m I against the demands of the oppositionist majority in the 2012 parliament? The answer is no. The demands oppositionists make in the media and social media are accepted both publicly and constitutionally. The problem I have is not with the demands the opposition make, but with their practices. The opposition’s main demands include a constitutional monarchy where the cabinet is formed by the political party that wins parliamentary elections. They assert the need to endorse a full parliamentary system and prevent authorities from interfering in the affairs of others. These demands are all due, especially given the need for a solution to the endless failure in political work. But can we guarantee that realizing these demands will bring political stability? Does the opposition today have the capability to implement these amendments? The main problem relies in the basic principle of respecting the constitution, which the opposition needs to maintain before demanding constitutional amendments. To quote outspoken oppositionist Obaid Al-Wasmi, he said that “the pattern of people’s participation in power adopted in the sixties no longer meets the ambitions of today’s public, especially after constitutional and democratic reform became a national demand”. These statements are fine. But how can constitutional reform be achieved? Should it come through constitutional principles, or through public chaos, social instigation and demanding rights for specific sectors while leaving out others? All matters of the state are addressed by the state’s constitution; even improving it for the better. We are not against constitutional reform, as long as it remains within the constitutional framework. Demands Al-Wasmi and other oppositionists make are understandable, but what is not is taking rights by force. Reform for the better must take place within the channels outlined by the constitution. Constitutional reform cannot be achieved through rejecting Constitutional Court orders, Islamizing constitutional articles, or give certain candidates an advantage to become prime minister. Leading opposition member Khalid Al-Sultan recently criticized veteran liberal politician Ahmad AlKhateeb for “criticizing the opposition for raising the ceiling of demands”. What Al-Sultan doesn’t realize is that Al-Khateeb isn’t against the demands the opposition make, but against the opposition making the demands. — Al-Rai
kuwait digest
local, imported bribe takers By Thaar Al Rashidi
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hen a municipality closes any of the 5 stars restaurants in the state, and when you call the restaurant enquiring about the reason for the closures, they will tell you, “we are redecorating”. This trick is used by all 5 star restaurants whenever they are closed, though the closure is usually due to inspectors finding expired food items or even due to technical reasons by the municipality. The case of those restaurants when they are closed is very much like our political situation, as there is no government or NA council, and if any one asks us about the situation, we say “Things are good and we are all right.” But the truth is, and for those who do not know, we are going through a great and dangerous democratic emptiness, as if we are living in a case of linking work with the constitution, in a constitutional way. This emptiness shall prevail until next October, I believe. When a minister says that he is for reform, then starts to reform something and, at the same time, destroys something good, I tell him thank you, please keep your reforms to yourself. —Al-Anbaa
T
he democracy we academically studied and are teaching to our students today is much different from the one actually practiced by our legislature and executives. For each party claims that its own view of democracy is the correct one. We have repeatedly explained that democracy is not merely calling for elections and candidacies. Democracy is a huge responsibility that requires people who realize that the core of democracy is respecting others, absolute commitment to laws, respecting human rights, not violating the principles of the separation of powers, respecting freedom, justice, equality and the equality of opportunities for all. Despite our specialty in politics, we fail to understand what is going on in the country these days. Everybody is claiming to represent the majority, without having any statistics to prove it. We no longer understand the language of deception, maneuvering, love for power and hypocrisy. What is happening is a real conflict of classes, where the lower classes are tr ying to usurp power that had been restricted to the merchant class, according to a major opposition MP. The parliamentary majority offered many ideas to support its political attitudes and public movements. They intend to run for elections under the slogan of ‘Re-Elect Them’, which is electorally legitimate, but elections are usually run in an atmosphere of competition between various parties and political movements where the people have to choose the best group. This is absolutely different from the fact that 35-40 former MPs, belonging to different parties such as the Muslim Brethren, the Salafis, the Popular Action Bloc, the Development Party and tribes with their respective different special party or tribal interests, run for elections with nothing in common amongst them except their opposition
to the already-resigned Nasser Al-Mohammed cabinet and their rejection of the constitutional court ruling, yet they intend to seek re-election in the coming elections. The question is: Will tribesmen in suburban areas vote for the majority candidates from urban ones? Will the opposite take place? Will it be possible for a Salafi to vote for the Muslim Brethren and vice versa? Will an urban citizen vote for a tribal candidate? The answer is, of course not. All the currently used slogans, such as threatening to resign from the 2009 parliament and denying their resignation when the judge investigating their breaking into parliament asks them, are only meant to deceive voters. The former parliamentar y majority had declared an agenda focused on changing the constitution and calling for a parliamentary constitutional court, which involves long complicated procedures and the approval of HH the Amir. Any opposition has the right to have a political agenda, provided they fully observe transparency and credibility. The Muslim Brethren MP, Mohammed Al-Dallal, announced his acceptance of the constitutional court ruling while his colleague, MP Jam’an Al-Harbash, who is a Muslim Brethren MP, too, leads demonstrations at the determination yard. Who should we believe, people? The Salafi MPs, Khaled Al-Sultan and Ali Al-Omair, took part in the demonstrations despite the Salaf scholar’s call not to contradict rulers or guardians. Yes, each MP has the right to use any slogan, provided he does not deceive the people and pretend to possess qualities he lacks. Finally, fellow Kuwaitis, beware of the forthcoming elections. Make the best choices, as the deterioration we are suffering from are all because of your bad choices. So do it right this time, so that we might enjoy more stability! —Al-Watan
kuwait digest
Who are corrupt in Kuwait? By Abdullatif Al-Duaij
T
he opposition’s campaign has for years been focused on fighting corruption and what they describe as “corrupt media”, referring to media outlets they accuse of using falsified statements to attack the opposition. These allegations intensified before the elections last February as members of the opposition increased the number of fictional stories about their heroics in fighting corruption. In the end, all opposition candidates won the elections, while democratic candidates became the biggest losers. The 2012 parliamentary election results mean one of two things. First, the hidden and known forces that the opposition claims to be fighting against are fictional, and that the uproar they are making is a silly play we have to see every season, featuring failed actors looking to secure more votes. Either this scenario exists, or that the alleged ‘forces of corruption’ instead exists and helped the opposition secure the large and sudden win they had in the elections. It is both likely and
clear that there have been efforts to help new opposition members to be elected who don’t have previous experience in parliamentary work, which eventually happened at the expense of former MPs with significant experience who either failed or barely made it to the parliament. For example, let’s take the
It is both likely and clear that there have been efforts to help new opposition members to be elected who don’t have previous experience in parliamentary work. third constituency, being the most multicultural in Kuwait and includes members from all categories in Kuwaiti society. The opposition’s theory claims that the ‘forces of corruption’ secured the win of two candidates,
specifically Nabeel Al-Fadhl and Mohammad Al-Juwaihel. But the same constituency also saw all opposition candidates win, including inexperienced members such as Mohammad AlDallal and Abdul-Aziz Al-Yahya, who led all third constituency candidates by a large margin. On the other hand, national and democratic movement candidates all lost in the third constituency, the same as they did in the first election, while barely being elected in the second constituency. So, if corrupt people with influence and corrupt media outlets are working against the opposition, how were the oppositionists able to secure a landslide victory, unless that happened through support the oppositionist candidates received from corrupt forces. Of course, the opposition will deny this theory; but that doesn’t answer how they won a landmark victory, despite being fought, as they claim, by corrupt individuals, or how the democratic candidates failed, in the meantime. — Al-Qabas
smuggling happened through goods consigned to the US army and are there parties in the army involved in this smuggling or had this been a case of good intentions by the official who signed the order? I collected too much information using official documents and am publishing this with the hope that officials in the US Army or Ministry of Interior stop this smuggling, which might harm the American army or our state. Today, the American Army seems to be penetrated, to some extent. When the American army forces were in Iraq, they contracted with many local and international companies for logistics and transportation of its equipment and personnel and to provide basic services and foodstuff for the army. In the beginning, the US army used to monitor every small thing happening, but after withdrawing from Iraq, and keeping their forces in Kuwait, things have changed. The army’s main concern is to guard its equipment and personnel, which arrives in Kuwait from outside and is brought to its camps in convoys. Similar concerns apply when they export this equipment from their camps to Kuwaiti ports. Up until loading equipment aboard vessels, the cargo remains under guard. Regarding food supplies, this was assigned to local and international companies, and have deployed officers from the American army whose role was only to stamp the order papers, as those contracting companies brought whatever they wanted, claiming it was for the American army. According to the information I received, about 1,000 containers are shipped daily from Kuwaiti ports to the American army, including 700 containers through Shuwaikh Shuaiba port, and these containers are loaded with whatever the American army needs. Looking at carton declarations, I found large number of containers loaded with oil, battery water, and coolant water for radiators for the American army vehicles, though most of the vehicles do not move and have stopped in their place. These were the same cargo containers found to be loaded with liquor. We do not know if other containers were smuggled before, although the information supports that theory. Also, there are several containers still in the port awaiting completion of customs formalities. The contents of the trailers stopped by Kuwaiti officials had been unknown, though they were monitored by drug enforcement officials beginning immediately after leaving the port of Shuwaikh and heading to Arifjan camp, along with a convoy of trailers. When the trailer deviated from the convoy and headed to the Subhan area, it was stopped and the driver was arrested, along with the person who brought the shipment and another container was stopped after the completion of the formalities. When transporting containers to the American army, some contracting companies or persons might bring in whatever they want, under the guise that it is cargo for the American army and cannot be inspected, as per agreement with the two countries. If the American army is careless in protecting itself, and the army knows very well that war is not only a showdown between two armies, but also of how an army can be harmed through keeping poisonous materials in their food or through chemicals in their equipment, even if those materials were not important. We thank the ministr y of interior for stopping the two containers, yet the ministry is requested to take necessary precautions to apprehend those containers which might be loaded with arms or explosives and can cause harm to the security of our state. The American army can monitor those containers loaded on trailers through convoys traveling to their camps and know the number of containers that left the port and the number that arrive at the camps. — Al-Anbaa