Kuwaiti Women's Suffrage Comes Early

As one of the positive consequences of dissolving the parliament, women's right to run for Majlis AlOmmah came earlier than expected. Today, May 25th 2006, 5 Kuwaiti women officially registered to run for the parliement. They are:

خالده الخضر
رولا دشتي
طيبه الابراهيم
عائشه الرشيد
غنيمه الحيدر

It makes me proud to see this happen in Kuwait. I wish the candidates all the luck and continued strength to continue their effort to progress our country into more civil rights and a more representative parliament.

We continue our steps towards reforms. These elections will be critical in determining the path to a better Kuwait. Women’s rights and the youth orange movement that calls for reforms through the call for 5 electoral districts are important catalysts for change.

Even if none of the women win this time, even when these elections are going to be based on the corrupt 25 districts, it is the orange movement and it’s positivity that started to change everyone’s expectations of the future. More importantly, they invograted many to play a role in determining the future.

For a better Kuwait, be there and vote for 5, vote for a moral, honourable, and democratic Kuwait.

June 29^th 2006. A day when we will change Kuwait for the better.

UPDATE: At close of registration on June 3^rd, the number of women candidates has risen to 32 out of the 402 registered candidates to run on June 29^th. While women voters represent 57% of registered voters – thanks to their automatic registration based on their civil identity cards. Wish all the reform candidates all the luck, and hope for a large turn out of the women vote!

إنتصار: إنحل المجلس

خطوه واحده بكلمة الحق، من ضمير يدعو وفؤاد يلح، بدأت اصوات كانت في اذهاننا عبروا عنها محبي الوطن. فخرجوا ليلبوا لحلم رسموه لنا اباؤنا عن كويت الحريه والعدل والمساواة. فغيروا معايير إتخاد القرار وأشهروا عن سلبيات المماطله.

خطوه في بداية مسيرة الاصلاح، لاجل ذالك الحلم لتكون الكويت التي نحلم بها اقرب لنا ولاجيال تُحَملنا مسؤلية مواقفنا. خطوه انعشت الولاء وأصحت الحب لكويتنا. من غير التفرقه وبدون التأزيم، خطوه مُجرده من كل الانتماأت، لاجل الوطن.

عاشت الكويت لاهلها

5 For Kuwait May 19th: ليلة القسم

In a show of complete unity, the 29 members stood in front of an even larger crowd tonight and swore to their commitment to pursue the 5 constituencies demand. They were defiant towards the government and strong for the people and aware of their historic responsibility. The government would never have thought this would happen. Their move to escalate to the constitutional court was called out as a bluff tonight. The government and its cronies are now in a mess. With the tremendous support from a campaign that now has become a loud voice of the people, the pro-5/pro-reforms side has a stronger stance.

The government must have thought that the tactical games of yesterday, would apply today. They didn’t count on an Orange Youth Revolution. Led by a few a few weeks ago, that now has become a political power that energises members of parliament to stand against the government.It’s now a stalemate. The pro-5 refuses to negotiate. The government has to withdraw and propose the 5, or face questioning by the members of parliament.

Now the role of the Amir is crucial. This Amir has reached his position through strict observance of the constitution. The role of this parliament’s members in carrying out the constitutional process to the very last detail saved this country plenty of ambiguity and fear in a very critical time. So, now it’s the time to see how the Amir deals with this situation. Will he let the questioning go ahead, force the PM to reverse course, or play yesteryears games and dissolve the parliament?

لا نثق بالحكومه

بعد الكشف عن نوايى الحكومه واتباعها ،فان خطوة النواب ال29 هي خطوه صحيحه تعبر عن شعب فقد الامل من التعامل مع حكومه لا تريد الديموقراطية. فهي صحوه قويه لشعب كان متناعس يعرف عن سياسة الحكومه ولكن استبشر خيرا بقياده جديده نطقت بالاصلاح فترك المجال للبعض ان يتهاون بإرادة الكويتيين. فلا ثقه في حكومه لا تريد الديموقراطية

و"وهي ايضا الغت مفهوم الديموقراطية الحقيقية حينما ضربت بالمادة 6 عرض الحائط، وهي التي تقرر 'نظام الحكم في الكويت ديموقراطي، السيادة فيه للامة مصدر السلطات جميعا'، فالامة يمثلها الغالبية المنتخبة من النواب التي جهرت برأيها وموقفها، لكن الحكومة تصر على تغير هذا المبدأ بجعل الديموقراطية تسودها وتحكم فيها اقلية برلمانية او حكومة معزولة عن النبض الشعبي "ن.

أبعاد أزمة الدوائر.. وداعا أيها الدستور
أ.د محمد عبدالمحسن المقاطع
استاذ القانون العام - كلية الحقوق - جامعة الكويت

Optimism after years of Greed and Selfishness?

I received the following from a Bahraini friend of mine

" Kuwait was top of the gulf some 15 years ago, now they
are way behind and have to catch up. A lot of it if
you please let me say is selfishness of rulers and
elite class (business people). They did not open up
the country and favoured protectionism. Plus they did
not know how to win the people or the neighbours or the
world. a serious image building is needed by Kuwait
because for people like me who know it, it is a very
nice place with wonderful people.

Bahrain seriously needs something similar, too much
bureaucracy for no reason. We have more electoral
districts than Kuwait and all for nothing."

He is right ...greed and elitism was fostered and encouraged through bed-sharing with the government for years. It allowed some in the ruling family to aspire for power and influence and join in the atmosphere of greed. Paving the way for corruption. Individual rights were trampled on. Equality was not even expected. Your worth is not about your character and your contributions, but it's simply money.

This caused more corruption, and everyone started to accept a situation of stagnation. No strategy, no care, unless it's about money. No future path. An identity lost. Go to work, push paper in an ever-growing bureaucracy, get paid, take your family out to dinner, get the hell out of the country whenever you can to entertain yourself. Repeat. Politics? Pfft, who cares? Majlis AlOmmah, what's that?

...

Well, now slowly there is a spirit getting back. It's not about money. It's about individual rights, voices to be heard, opportunities for all. Against a system that got ugly and corrupt. The struggle now is to get more people to care.

I spoke with a friend last night. I was wondering if he made it out to one of the gatherings. He was half asleep tired from working too hard. Didn't know what was going on. What was worse was his attitude was very negative, and he sounded like he didn't care because he felt he didn't matter. I spoke with another friend, almost the same. It's sad. Frustrating.

However, not everyone was like that. My brother was excited, and had strong positive opinions. My cousins made it out last night. Another couple of friends were there, one of whom was there since the beginning of the 5 for Kuwait campaign taking pictures and posting on blogs and reporting on things.

So, I sense some optimism. A change in mind, and inshallah the momentum continues and step by step real change happens. Soon enough, we will get a better country. Soon enough, Kuwait will be what it was before and better. Loved and respected by its people, our neighbors, and the world.

Meanwhile....

Meanwhile, inside the parliament the government played out its strategic and well-planned move. Without even discussing or allowing a discussion of the proposed law, the government again asked to refer the law to the constitutional court. In the absence of the 29 members. There were 34 members in attendance, making a quorum. There were 18 government-puppy members plus the speaker plus the 15 ministers (one of whom was rushed in from Lebanon on a private plane as a replacement for the resigned minister of information, to be sworn in and attend to vote for this motion). Anyway, 33 voted for the motion, the speaker voted against. So, 33 out of 65 barely a majority!

Later the protesting 29 members declared that they will enact article 100 of the constitution (AlDistoor) calling for questioning the prime minister. This will be submitted to the parliament today May 17th at noon.

This is a first in Kuwait's history, never has a prime minister been questioned. Let a alone that a sheikh is being questioned. A notion that is considered offensive to some from the ruling family. The article allows for at least 8 days from the day of the submission of the request to question the minister, unless expedited by agreement with the minister. Anyway, if the questioning happens, and no deal is struck before it, then hard questions would be put to the prime minister.

The problem with this is that the prime minister is not really the source of the problem. It is the members of the government that have been trying to disable any process of reform. The likes of Ahmed AlFahad and Mohammed Sharar. Their ambitions for power and influence, demand that the status quo is maintained. They themselves represent a view in the ruling family that the constitution is too limiting for their powers, and would be happier without it! Hence, this story isn't just about the number of constituencies.

So, if the questioning happens (I don't think it's likely - it would be a fiasco!), and the members of parliament decide that they cannot cooperate with the prime minister, then article 102 is enacted. Article 102 means that the matter is referred to the Amir, who has to decide to either dismiss the prime minister and re-appoints a new government, or he dissolves the parliament and new elections are called for within 2 months.

So, what happened?

May 15th. After the audience in the session stood up and chanted against the government, and started to sing the national anthem joined by the revolting 29 members with their palms raised signaling 5, the speaker (AlKharafi) adjourned the the session (because of the disruptions in the room) till the morning of the 16th.

At the morning of the 16th, a crowd showed up at the parliament and wanted to attend the session. However, the speaker has asked the security forces to prevent the audience from entering the session. When the MPs showed up, the 29 that stormed out in protest, stood with the audience and demanded that they are let in. Still the forces prevented them from letting the audience in (details). So, the MPs stood outside with them and here is a video of what they said (thanks Q80Y):

MPs storm out of the Majlis in protest

Thanks to Mohd for the video.
This is the broadcast on KTV4 of what happened at the last few minutes of the Kuwaiti parliament session on May 15th. Once the speaker asked for members' names to be called to vote alphabetically, the name "Ahmed AlSaadoon" was pronounced absent, this started a row of members to withdraw in protest and solidarity with their palms raised showing their support for the "5". Signaling a historic stance against an obvious maneuver by the government to try and keep the status quo and not disturb the balance of power and their influence in the upcoming 2007 elections, by delaying the reduction of electoral constituencies, and hence maintaining a corrupt system till 2011. The audience, many of whom have stayed up all night in front of the parliament, erupted in chants against the government and their corrupt members!

From Majlis AlOmmah: 29 members withdrew in protest!

May 15th 3.30pm Celebrations in the parliament session! After the withdrawl of 29 members from the proceedings, hence breaking the quorum, celebrations erupted from the audience singing the national anthem in solidarity with those members who stood up and voiced the demands of all Kuwaitis! The government withdrew from the room.

5 For Kuwait: May 14th Vigil

Vigil in front of Kuwait's parliament (Majlis AlOmmah) on the eve of the session to discuss the issue of reducing Kuwait's voting constituencies. AlArabiya TV report on the "5 for Kuwait" campaign to stay up all night in front of parliament until the morning session. With interviews with young demonstrators.

This is it. This is our stance. Our fathers stood at a place close to this. They gave up a lot for their principles. They sacrificed, to stand for our right to have this country. They saw beyond what most can see now. Beyond the money, beyond the influence, beyond the grandeur of power. They saw a country to belong to, to love, to believe in, and out of their overwhelming responsibility, a free country to live in for them and the generations to come.

والله لكويت اكبر منا كلنا

They saw a country of and for the future. A country, which engulfs their children in the principles of equality and responsibility. This is not for anyone. This is for who believes that the fruits of their fathers’ sacrifices is a responsibility for the future generations.

Out of this principle, we have to stand. Close to where our fathers stood. Strong and proud. Remembering their sacrifices for our present and future. This is a step, a big step. We will remember and be remembered. We care. We love this country. We want it for us, and the generations to come. Beyond the bounty of the present.

Like our fathers taught us.

للكويت

الملخص المفيد

كلي شي ولا الي منبطح على ضهره! !LOL حاضر عمي

The great Mad M2♥♥♥...

5 For Kuwait: Demonstration May 6 2006

في اول تجمع شعبي حاشد تشهده البلاد من اجل تعديل الدوائر خرج مئات الكويتيين مساء امس للوقوف امام قصر السيف، حيث اجتماع مجلس الوزراء لاستكمال بحث قضية الدوائر وذلك للمطالبة بتعديل الدوائر الى خمس دوائر في مشهد شعبي لم يسبق له مثيل من قبل، مؤكدين وقوف الشعب الكويتي مع هذا التوجه الذي سيقضي على الفساد السياسي -القبس