World media spotlight on Kuwait’s “democratic wedding” for National Assembly elections 28/09/2022 (See translation in Arabic section) 20/07/2022 Sydney – M E TIMES Int’l: Kuwait’s National Assembly elections for the 17th legislative term, scheduled for September 29, are gaining great momentum thanks to the lofty vision of the political leadership, which constituted a great motivator for male and female voters to create a fruitful relationship between the legislative and executive authorities to achieve national interests. The signs of constitutional procedures using the right contained in Article 107 of the Constitution emerged with the announcement by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in a speech delivered on his behalf by His Highness, Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah last June, the decision to dissolve the National Assembly. The political leadership affirmed not to interfere in the voters’ choices for their representatives and not to interfere in the upcoming National Assembly’s choices for its president or its committees, so that the parliament would be the master of its decisions, despite the right of the prime minister and ministers to vote in accordance with Article 80 of the Constitution. The political leadership also set controls in the stage of the elections (Nation 2022), emphasizing not to support one group at the expense of another, but to stand at the same distance from everyone. The Ministry of Interior conducted intensive campaigns to combat the phenomenon of by-elections.  MEDIA professionals and journalists affirmed that the pioneering democratic experiment in Kuwait is a bright flash in the path of Arab popular participation in shaping the future and preserving its capabilities through a legislative and supervisory council. The affirmation was made by a delegation of Arab media professionals and journalists covering the Kuwaiti elections. The editor-in-chief of the international section of the Tunisian daily Al-Sabah newspaper, Racia Al-Atroos, expressed her happiness to be part of an international delegation covering a “large and distinguished event in Kuwait’s democratic history”, considering it “a significant event in the Arab world with the election of a new legislative parliament”. Al-Atrous added that she was keen to provide all services in the media centre and said that the Kuwaiti media was unanimous in describing these elections as a “democratic wedding”. She stressed that it was a deserving description because it gave the Kuwaiti voter the opportunity to participate in changing his future and charting a better future. She noted the role of the media in conveying the activities of this unique experience in the region and monitoring its important role in perpetuating the mentality of citizenship, the culture of democracy and freedom of choice, and following up on discussions accompanying the electoral campaigns and the participation of women. The head of local affairs at the Bahraini Al-Ayyam newspaper, Hussain Sabt, said that the media centre had prepared a full program for journalists from abroad in addition to cultural, social and electoral foreign visits. He said that during his stay in Kuwait, he sensed great hopes pinned on the upcoming council by citizens to bring about a significant positive change in the country’s political and economic life, which would contribute to a greater renaissance. He expressed his “great enthusiasm” for watching the facts of the electoral process and voting, saying that it is a “critical and historic day at the level of forming a new National Assembly in light of a new era called correcting the path.” The director of the Rabat bureau of Moroccan newspaper Bayan, Muhammad Hajiwi said that the Kuwaiti democratic experiment was the oldest of its kind in the Arab Gulf states with the first electoral experiment after independence in 1963: “that is, after the adoption of the founding constitution in 1962.” Hajiwi said that the Kuwaiti democratic experience has witnessed a remarkable development since then. He explained that the qualitative development of the Kuwaiti electoral system, especially after the adoption of the one-vote system in 2012 and before that the political rights of women, was a positive thing and had contributed significantly to the development of the democratic experience. The editor-in-chief of Mauritanian newspaper Al-Sada, Ahmed Salem stressed that the Kuwaiti democratic experience represented a pioneering model, and considered it “the best democratic example for the countries of the region”. Salem explained that the Kuwaiti democratic experience, which is nearly 60 years old, has created a democratic model that benefitted from the accumulation of experiences, and today it has reached the top of global models because of its features represented in enhancing transparency and equality among candidates with equal opportunities in the official media. YOUTHFUL ASPIRATIONS
The issues of Kuwaiti youth, their political perceptions, and their future aspirations receive great attention from the candidates for the 2022 elections, who are keen to include them in their electoral process, considering that young people are the largest group in society and the greatest weight in weighing the winners, leading to the dome of Abdulla Al-Salem. Young people are undoubtedly the main driver of the dynamism of the electoral process to a large extent, as they constitute 72 percent of society, a percentage that requires candidates to adopt the issues of this important and main segment, express their voices, and work to achieve their causes. Kuwaiti youth are not new, whether to participate in the democratic process or political life, or even community and voluntary participation in keeping pace with any elections, as they are accustomed to actual participation, especially during the period of university education through student unions that established in them the electoral culture or democratic practice. In this regard, the spokesman for the Public Authority for Youth, Muhammad Al-Alloush, said that Kuwaiti youth have visions, hopes, and ambitions that they placed on the National Assembly through proper representation and good outcomes. Al-Alush added that the importance of this also stems from the fact that Kuwaiti society is young as young people constitute 72 percent. The head of the International Co-operation Committee in the Kuwaiti Youth Council Abdul Rahman Al-Saidi that the speeches of the candidates have become more concerned with youth, a reflection of the youth’s visions to elevate their thought and visions for the homeland away from any sectarian concept reflected in the speech of the candidates. Regarding the challenges facing young people in participating in the electoral experience, Al-Saidi said that young people do not have enough capital to run for the council or cover the costs of that so it is necessary to control media campaigns and define a mechanism for financing them and specifying a certain ceiling so that the principle of equal opportunities is guaranteed. |
