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Kuwait's 'deja vu' politics must end
Zeal and awe have given way to trepidation, offering a dim perspective of its rich legacy
- By Abdullah Alshayji, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 November 9, 2009
- Image Credit: Illustration:Nino Jose Heredia, Gulf News
Kuwait seems to be caught in a tangled web of an unrelenting political quagmire.
This has ground the nation to a screeching halt, delayed mega projects, cast doubts on Kuwaiti acumen and shrewd commitment to pledges. It has forced Kuwaitis to rethink their cherished, unique, pioneering and inspiring representative paradigm and its dividends. All because of the unrelenting bickering and acrimonious relations between the executive and legislative branches of Kuwait's political system.
Kuwait has acted for generations as a prototype and harbinger of representative politics, which has lulled and awed intellectuals, nations and elites in the Arab world.
However, the current political paralysis, which I call a malaise, is forcing Kuwaitis and others to ponder on that past experience and question its viability and resilience. Those romantic sentiments over the Kuwaiti political system seem to have worn out both in Kuwait and abroad.
More alarmingly, high-tech television news channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya and various web sites and blogs have shed light on Kuwait's current political saga. The Kuwaiti experience has, of late, proved to be increasingly uninspiring. Sadly, the zeal and the awe have given way to trepidation, hesitation and offer a dim perspective of its dividends.
Kuwaitis who went to the polls last May — twice in a year to elect two parliaments — once again opted to elect a feisty and outspoken legislature including, for the first time, four women, setting a precedent in the region.
The dilemma
The dilemma of Kuwaiti politics has seen the short lives of its cabinets and parliaments, the terms have shrunk to rather lowly days for the cabinets and months for the parliaments. But the Kuwaiti political practices, openness and oversights have not gained regional traction and are not in vogue.
In the region, political accountability, participation and representation are still lacking. Nowhere else, but in Kuwait, cabinet ministers — who are members of the ruling family and senior members of influential families — are grilled and even forced to resign at times. Nowhere else, but in Kuwait, cabinets are toppled and the prime minister, who is a senior member of the ruling family, and other senior members of the ruling family, are grilled and MPs and columnists are taken to court to settle differences and defamation.
Such practices are alien to the rough and tumble of Arab politics, but Kuwait has been an oasis in the huge desert of Arab politics and practices. However, lately, that oasis has come under assault and is increasingly losing its uniqueness.
For the past three years, Kuwait has experienced a lot of hype and bellicose atmosphere between some of its outspoken parliamentarians and opposition political blocs on the one hand and some targeted ministers on the other over mismanagement in the ministries, violations of bylaws or granting of unauthorised favours to the constituencies of certain MPs. This is the nasty, ugly side of the Kuwaiti National Assembly which is no different from the US Congress or the British House of Commons.
This autumn, it is ‘déjà vu' in Kuwait — as if we are watching the movie Groundhog Day all over again!
The Emir, in his opening speech, called for cooler heads to prevail and underscored the need for cooperation and reconciliation to help Kuwait face the numerous challenges on its domestic and regional fronts — be it the implementation of its long overdue mega development projects or the dangers from the upheaval in Iraq or the sabre-rattling of an emboldened Iran.
The last dose of reality to hit Kuwait was the bizarre accusations by the radical, racist Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who accused Kuwait of committing war crimes when it expelled thousands of Palestinians, following Kuwait's liberation from Iraqi occupation in 1991. This is totally absurd and a smokescreen to cover the Goldstone report on Israel's wanton and criminal onslaught on the Gaza Strip last December.
Today, Kuwait is reliving the same episodes of recrimination. An Islamist MP presented a cheque issued by the prime minister for 200,000 Kuwaiti dinars (about Dh2.57 million) to a former MP, implicitly as a bribe, setting off a snowball of events and resulting in the interpellation of the prime minister for the sixth time. Past attempts to interpellate the prime minister led to the resignation of the cabinet and the suspension of the Parliament and calling for snap elections.
To further complicate matters, at least five ministers, including the prime minister, are slated for further interpellation because of the infamous cheque and over the issue of pollution in one of the electoral districts. Also targeted are the defence, interior and oil ministers, who are all members of the ruling family. In addition, the ministers of finance and public works are also slated for interpellation.
It is time to end ‘politics-as-usual' in Kuwait so that the country can once again reclaim its most important trait and return as the harbinger and prototype of representative politics that awed and inspired its people and others.
Dr Abdullah Alshayji is Professor of Political Science and Chairman of the American Studies Unit at Kuwait University.
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