Manama: A group of Kuwaitis is mulling an initiative to help heal the deepening political and social wounds affecting the nation.

The initiative, “Prayers for Kuwait”, will be formally launched on Monday at a general meeting amid hopes that people from all segments and sects of the Kuwaiti society will attend, according to a report in local Arabic daily Al Rai.

“The initiative aims to unite all Kuwaitis around Kuwait and to urge all people to recall with gratitude the blessings of living on this land that require us to defend our country and to endeavour to preserve its security and stability. We need to avoid sliding further into the quagmire of in-fighting as the unprecedented situation is deeply worrying people about the present and raising their fears about the future,” organisers said.

The meeting will have no agenda and will be an occasion to offer common prayers.

“Participants will be able to express their love for Kuwait through prayers to ensure it remains a secure, stable and united country,” the organisers said. “There will be no speeches or politicising or party messages because we have now reached a stage where the threats are targeting all of us regardless of our affiliations. The minimum is to meet and to pray together,” they said, quoted by the daily.

Kuwait has been rocked by bitter bickering between pro-government and opposition lawmakers over several constitutional and electoral issues.

In June, the Constitutional Court ruled that the decrees to dissolve the 2009 parliament and to call for parliamentary elections in February were unconstitutional.

The verdict by the country’s highest court could not be challenged and de facto dissolved the 2012 parliament and reinstated the 2009 legislative body.

However, an atmosphere of distrust prevailed and the opposition vowed to resort to street pressure to have the decision reversed.

Dangerous situation

The situation was compounded in August when the government referred the controversial 2006 election law to the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the article that reduced the number of electoral constituencies from 25 to five.

The government said that it wanted to end all legal loopholes that could be exploited to challenge future elections and to ensure a fairer representation in the parliament. However, the opposition, mainly Islamists elected in 2012, charged that the decision amounted to a coup to clip its powers.

The court said that it would start looking into the case on September 5.

Strong conflicting positions expressed mainly in the social and print and audio-visual media exacerbated the situation and sparked concerns about the political future of the country.

“It is about time that the silent majority spoke out,” organisers of the “Prayers for Kuwait” said. “Men and women, children and adults worried about their own future and that of Kuwait should free themselves of their passive protests and come out in the open to pray publicly for the future of the country. They will thus express their total rejection of the dangerous situation in which we have been forced by the continuous crises and the inability to address them.”