KUWAIT: A former minister and lawmaker urged HH the Amir yesterday to take back a decision to amend the electoral law through an emergency decree, in order to prevent a crisis amid stiff opposition from oppositionist groups. "The public are outraged as a result of being deprived of their rights, and the suppression of the peaceful demonstration of tens of thousands of citizens has added to their outrage," former housing and parliament affairs minister Shuwaib Al-Muwaizri said in a statement to the press.
"Only you can end the crisis by leaving the adjustment of voting mechanism to the new parliament to make," he added while addressing HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Describing the current situation that Kuwait is going through as a "real crisis threatening its existence and the fate of [its] people and regime," Al-Muwaizri insisted that people's frustration was not just due to the amendment of the electoral law, but also because of the "constitutional rights that the majority of people feel deprived of."
"Thousands of Kuwaitis wait for job opportunities and housing, suffer from bad education and public health services, and witness spread of corruption at a time when we live in a country with daily income running into multi millions, a limited population and geographical area," he said, adding that the people had remained patient "out of concern towards the country and hoped that reform would eventually prevail."
Meanwhile, former MP Faisal Al- Mislem reiterated calls for Kuwaitis to boycott elections of the "rigged parliament" set to take place on December 1st. His statements came shortly after the decree to reduce the number of votes per voter from four to one was officially released yesterday. Separately, the oppositionist Majority Bloc failed to convince leaders of two major tribes to release official statements boycotting the upcoming elections, according to sources with knowledge of the case.
© Kuwait Times 2012
