Discrimination against Foreigners and Democratic Reforms - Essay Example

Discrimination against Foreigners and Democratic Reforms By: Yousef Al-Ibrahim Recently, the media reported the story of a 23-year old Kuwaiti man who shot another man of Indian origin. He reportedly admitted shooting the Indian because he wanted to test his accuracy. There was no other target at his disposal other than the poor Indian man. I know our courts will find him guilty of an offence and probably sentence him to a few years in prison. What if the 23-year old man could be a senior government official accused of corruption? Do you think our courts could give a guilty verdict? What if the Indian man was the one accused of killing a Kuwaiti? In this country, there is discrimination against foreigners. There is discrimination against Indians. There is discrimination against Europeans. There is discrimination against the Americans. There is discrimination against fellow Arabs particularly the Palestinians. The founders of the nation planted the seeds of discrimination among us, and now we are feeling its effects. Many foreigners have been suffering in silence since independence due to discrimination. They do not get equal opportunities like the indigenous people. When we gained independence, our government pursued policies that ensured Palestinians permanently remained refugees. We treated them in a manner that always made them feel that their presence in this country would remain temporary. The government deliberately denied many of them entry visas. As a result, some families were split, and some of them decided to leave the country. We did not give them permanent residence or citizenship, including those who were born here. Our country practices institutionalized discrimination against the Bedoons. The authorities have denied them citizenship despite living in the country for many generations. They are citizens without citizenship. They are barred from government employment, and their children have difficulties in accessing education. They do not move freely because they lack identification and travel documents. They also fear arrests and deportation from the country. Kuwait is the only country that the Bedoon community has ever known. They do not belong to Saudi Arabia. They do not belong to Iraq. They only failed to register themselves as citizens in 1950s because they had not foreseen the benefits of Kuwaiti citizenship. Their failure should not be used as a basis of denying them equal rights like other indigenous populations. Our government has always played tricks on the community by amending the laws so that none of them gets Kuwaiti citizenship. Our country needs broad democratic reforms; we want the Western-style party systems. We are tired of this constitutional monarchy. The emir has banned all political parties in the country; they only allow politicians to stand as independent candidates in elections. We have a functioning parliament, but the wide powers of the emir limit its efficiency. We need a presidential and parliamentary system where the people have the final say in critical issues. The only means we can accomplish this is through comprehensive constitutional reforms that will pave the way for new elections. There is no genuine democracy in our country. We are in a constitutional monarchy that is subject to manipulations from the ruling family. The emir is firmly in control of power. They dissolve parliament whenever they feel like doing so. In 1976, the emir suspended the national assembly claiming it was not acting in the interest of our nation. In 1981, they recalled, but decided to dissolve it again in 1986. A similar state happened in 1999 when the state misprinted copies of the Quran. In 2008, the emir dissolved parliament because it consisted of anti-government elements. In 2009, the emir dissolved parliament again because it had demanded to question Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah over allegations of corruption. In 2011, during the Arab Spring, the emir dissolved parliament because he wanted to protect the Prime Minister from corruption cases. He did the same in 2012. Our country, therefore, is in a series of parliament elections and dissolutions at the will of the emir and the entire ruling family. How can we have more than five national assembly elections within six years? We need democratic reforms. We need to stop this misuse of power. Every time there is a corruption case involving senior government officials, the emir dissolves the national assembly. So, where are we heading to? Where is our country headed? We were the first Arab country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, but what do we have to show for it? Our elected parliament has only created recurring disputes with the ruling family in terms of policy making. The elected officials have failed to reach the best economic policies to pursue. As a result, our economy has stagnated. Some members of the ruling family have conspired to siphon national resources out of the country. Our country is among the biggest exporters of oil in the world, but we still have people going to bed hungry. Our healthcare system is dilapidated. Our education system is ruined. Our people have lost confidence in the public institutions. In recent years, the cost of essential items has escalated. Some families barely have enough to eat. The demand of bribes is the order of the day in our country. Our judiciary is unable to handle cases corruption efficiently because it is filled with forces of corruption and their accomplices. The ruling family is unwilling to fight corruption in the country. They protect their members and political allies if their evil deeds get to the public domain. We want to reform our constitution so that we can stop corruption in the public sector. In 2012, Transparency International ranked our country 66 out of 176 with a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of 44 out of 100. Last year, we were ranked 69 out of 176. So where are we heading to? Where is our country headed to? Our neighbors are doing much better than us. Saudi Arabia scored a CPI of 46 while Bahrain scored 48. Qatar and UAE did much better; they scored 68 and 69 respectively. Fellow Kuwaitis, do not be surprised when our country performs worse than Iraq or Afghanistan in its CPI score. In fact, that is where our country is headed in the next few years. We need democratic reforms in our country. There are no political parties because the emir has banned them, but that should not be happening in the 21st Century. We should make constitutional and legislative reforms that allow multi-party democracy in the country. The Al Sabah family has been in power for more than 250 years, but we should bring it to an end in a peaceful process. The same family has always led all governments since independence. They have held key ministries such as defence, interior and foreign affairs. We can stop them by amending 36 provisions in our constitution. If we amend the constitution, we will significantly reduce the powers of the emir. The frequent dissolution of parliament and subsequent elections will be a thing of the past. There will be no more confusion between presidential and parliamentary systems. Exploitation will no longer be a way of life among the ruling political class. Fellow Kuwaitis, our country needs presidential and parliamentary systems of government. We no longer need the constitutional monarchy in the 21st Century. We want to create a political system where the people can elect their president. We want a democratic system where we can hold our leaders accountable. We want a system that can fight corruption and enhance public service delivery. Constitutional reform is the strongest weapon at our disposal. If we amend our constitution, it will pave the way for a new political system. We will end the dominance of Al Sabah family in power. Our country will hold elections at regular intervals, unlike the current situation full of uncertainty. Our public institutions have lost their legitimacy due to misuse of power for personal interests. Most people no longer have interests in political participation. There is no transparency in political decision making in our country. The emir has distorted political development in this nation; he has sustained political activities that are based on patronage and money. Our country cannot hold free and fair elections. You all remember what happened in the 2012 elections when the opposition boycotted the polls. The government’s intention of redrawing the electoral boundaries before the elections was to give pro-government candidates undue advantage. In this great country, everyone can contribute to the extensive reforms that will set us free from monarchy dictatorship. If we all cooperate, we can create a country where the people are the lawmakers. We can create a country where individuals are held accountable, including members of the ruling family. In our country ‘Impunity Must End’ is a political slogan rather than reform strategy. Our country is going through a stage where members of the ruling family are deliberately destroying the nation. We need massive reforms. We need sweeping changes in our institutions. We want a country that is free from all forms of discrimination. Works Cited Arab Times. “Kuwait Denunciates all Forms of Discrimination. 24 June 2014. Web. 24 June 2014.. BBC. “Kuwait profile.” BBC. Bbc.com, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 June 2014. . Gulf News. “Kuwait opposition calls for full democracy.” Gulf News. 12 April 2014. Web. 23 June 2014. < http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-opposition-calls-for-full-democracy-1.1318449> Kuwait Times. “Kuwaiti shoots Indian to test his accuracy.” Kuwait Times. Kuwait Times, n.d. Web. 22 June 2014. < http://news.kuwaittimes.net/kuwaiti-shoots-indian-to-test-his-accuracy/>. Transparency International. “How corrupt is your country? Corruption Perceptions Index 2013.” Transparency International. Transparency International, 2013. Web. 22 June 2014. . Read More