By B Izzak
KUWAIT: The administrative court on Sunday upheld a decision by an interior ministry commission to disqualify seven candidates from running in the upcoming parliamentary polls on September 29. A number of them immediately challenged the decision before the court of appeals whose decision is expected soon. The barred candidates include former MPs Abdullah Al-Barghash, Khaled Al-Mutairi and Mohammad Juwaihel. They also include Ayedh Al-Oteibi, Musaed Al-Quraifah, Hani Hussein and Anwar Al-Fikr. The interior ministry commission had barred the men over previous court verdicts of political and criminal nature.
In the meantime, the election campaign heated up yesterday with scores of candidates opening their campaigns and demanding fundamental reforms and changes. A majority of speakers highlighted the importance of the current elections as the country stands at a crossroads. Prominent opposition leader and former three-time assembly speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun who had contested most of the elections since 1971 said that the upcoming polls are different from all previous elections. He said these elections come after a clear pledge for the first time in Kuwait’s history by an Amiri address to "safeguard” the 1962 Kuwait’s constitution against any attempt to undermine it. Saadoun, tipped to become the next speaker if he wins a seat in parliament, hailed the pledges of the Amir to not interfere in the elections or the election of the speaker "something that we have never heard of in the past”.
Former MP Faisal Al-Yahya said that the country should capitalize on the historical speech of the Amir by launching initiatives to work out a vision for fundamental reforms and to get rid of all corrupt people who have infiltrated the structure of the state. Speaking at the election campaign of candidate Hamad Al-Olayyan, Yahya said another initiative must be launched to develop the political system in the country in such a way to guarantee the right of the people to govern and at the same time safeguarding the status of the ruling family. Yahya warned that if these initiatives were not implemented, the optimism that prevailed after the Amiri speech will vanish and the country will remain to revolve in a vacuum like before.
Candidate Hamad Al-Olayyan said that the real dilemma the country is facing is that it has a political system that corruption forces find it too easy to penetrate, adding that fundamental reforms in every field will achieve sustainable development. Former opposition MP Faisal Al-Mislem said that the Amiri speech has ended a decade of political turmoil, but a number of lingering issues remain unresolved like pardoning political immigrant and prisoners, rehabilitating Kuwaitis whose citizenship was revoked for political reasons and others.
Mislem warned that if these issues were not resolved, it will remain an obstacle for cooperation in the future. Candidate Abdullah Munawer Al-Mutairi, contesting from the fourth constituency, said Kuwait has been experiencing a state of free fall in all aspects of life including economic, social, transport, education and others as a result of a suspicious alliance between previous governments and merchants, members of the ruling family and a corrupt media. He said that the said alliance had dominated key ministries like the interior ministry and that the deep state apparatus has infiltrated the secret service.
Political activist Same Al-Mane called for fundamental political reforms which must come at the top of priorities. These should include approving political parties, establishing an independent election commission and changing the electoral system to adopt lists rather than individual candidates. Former MP Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf said the government has taken a number of positive steps that gave us a "shot of optimism” and we hope this will continue. But he warned that if no constructive cooperation takes place, the country will return to the era of political disputes.