Manama: A prominent Kuwaiti lawmaker has urged the authorities not to allow any form of celebration of the New Year.
"There must be a zero-tolerance policy towards any parties or celebrations marking the new year as they are against religion and the law," MP Mohammad Al Hayef said.
"We hope that the competent authorities will this year heed the warning because in the last few years, the interior and commerce ministries have failed to shoulder their responsibilities and did not assume responsibilities in preserving morals," said Al Hayef who last month pressed the education minister to cancel music courses from school curricula.
Commerce and interior ministry staff will on Thursday evening monitor restaurants, cafes and hotels to ensure full compliance with the Kuwaiti laws and social traditions and mores. Al Watan daily said. Those who break the law will be prosecuted and their licences could be revoked.
Commerce ministry sources, quoted by the paper, said that there were strict instructions not to allow any establishment to "engage in any activity that is not mentioned in their commercial registration". No singers or musicians should be allowed to perform with the approval of the ministry, the sources said.
Islamists lawmakers in Kuwait are strongly opposed to public celebrations and have been putting pressure on the government to ban them through strict measures. However, liberals refuse the move as a violation of personal freedoms and claim that the conservative forces were a form of "Taliban that targets freedom and wishes to destroy democracy."
Last year, a decision by the information ministry to reject licence applications for New Year's Eve celebrations was strongly condemned by liberals and activists.
