Country not for everybody anymore: Al-Dayyen
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 20: The need for equal treatment was emphasized when participants at a seminar "The Country Belongs to Everybody" unanimously agreed that individuals must be treated the same in the course of implementing the Const-itution, reports Al-Qabas daily.
Speaking at the seminar held inside the Hall of Women Cultural Society in Khaldiya Tuesday, professor of Sociology at Kuwait University Dr Khaldoun Al-Naqeb said the recent developments led to a strange scenario from which two agitations emanated.
He said an aspect of the scenario was agitation by some lawmakers to forestall the non-cooperation motion against the prime minister, based on loyalty to the leader. The other scenario was suspicion by the media of patriotism of some citizens, which led to the referral of some personalities to the Public Prosecution. He noted the lawmakers in the former category should rather have searched for an edict to establish their eligibility for a seat inside the Parliament rather than issuing edicts for loyalty to the leader. He argued that blind loyalty to the leader does not go well with the understanding of patriotism in our Constitution.
In his speech, renowned columnist Ahmad Al-Dayyen disclosed that minor tribal and sectarian identities have overridden the major identity due to retrogression in the construction of a modern nation. He stressed that the slogan 'The Country Belongs to Everybody' is no longer realistic, because it is not for everybody anymore. He traced the history of building a modern nation to early 1960s alongside the proposal for governance. He said the two proposals were balanced by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem. However, the proposed building of a modern city has retrogressed while the proposal for governance remains as the basis. This was the source of the electoral malpractice in 1967, he reiterated.
According to Kuwait University professor of Political Sciences Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar, the recent situation in our society is about the clash of constitutional and unconstitutional rule. He affirmed that some people believe the 1962 Constitution is a historical error. He added that the current situation is worrisome and that the country has two prisoners of opinion, indicating another political activist may soon join them.
He reminded the audience about Amer Khalif Al-Enezi who died in a situation similar to Mohammad Al-Mutairi's in 2005.
He berated government for failure to apologize for the death of Al-Mutairi, because it is the source.
© Arab Times 2011