| Kuwait |
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other subjects
|
|
Other countries · Atlas |
Important political issues in the Kuwaiti National Assembly include rights for women, rights for immigrant workers, gun control, and education reform.
Contents |
In 2002 Kuwait started allowing private universities in the country, beginning with the Gulf University for Science and Technology.[1] On September 28, 2008, MPs Abdullah Al-Roumi, Marzouq Al-Ghanem, Ali Al-Rashid, and Adel Al-Saraawi proposed a law to have the government pay half of Kuwaiti students' tuition at these private colleges.[2]
On November 28, 2008, MPs Abdullah Al-Roumi, Khaled AlـSultan Bin Essa, Hassan Johar, Musallam Al-Barrak, and Marzouq AlـHubaini Al-Azmi proposed a law to extend the mandatory retirement age for Kuwaiti teaching staff at Kuwait University from 65 to 70 years. The MPs argued that Item 32 of Law no. 15/1979 has denied the country services of able and intelligent professors by restricting the retirement age of Kuwaitis to 65 years.[3]
On December 26, 2003, the Kuwaiti cabinet informed the parliament that it was modifying Kuwaiti textbooks to remove references to alleged Islamic intolerance and extremism. In the ensuing debate, MP Hassan Jawhar said, “I hope the government will not bow to external blackmail and threats... and be forced to delete important sections of Islamic education." MP Mohammad Al-Busairi claimed the United States had been pressing Gulf states to change school textbooks since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and rejected accusations that school syllabi in the Gulf breed terrorists.[4]
Coeducation in Kuwait has been a contentious issue since the Islamists gained power in parliament in the 1990s. In 1996, conservative lawmakers banned coed classes at Kuwait University and The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. In 2000, when foreign universities were first allowed to open branches in Kuwait, the ban was extended to those institutions as well.[5]
On February 6, 2008, MP Ali Al-Rashid proposed a bill that would allow men and women to take classes together in Kuwaiti universities, which would reverse the 12-year-old ban on coeducation.[6]
Also, the Youth Association of Kuwait supports what it calls freedom of education which they explain as students having the choice to be in a Co-Ed environment or not, while the National Union of Kuwaiti Students supports student segregation.
In August 2008, MP Abdullah Al-Roumi declared that he was going to draft a law to scrap Kuwait’s "kafeel" foreign worker sponsorship system, under which expatriates must be sponsored by a local employer to get a work permit: "The government should be the only kafeel... We have scores of bachelors residing in Kuwait with an equal number of crimes. Many are caused due to the 'trading with humans' issue which taints the reputation of Kuwait."[7][8]
On December 4, 2008, MPs Hassan Jawhar, Musallam Al-Barrak, Marzouq AlـHubaini, Ali Al-Deqbasi, and Abdullah AlـBarghash submitted a draft law calling for the granting of Kuwaiti citizenship to all bidun (stateless) residents in the country. The bill proposes that citizenship be granted to all bidun who were included in the 1965 census and who have no criminal record. The new draft law differs from previous bills as it does not impose any restrictions on the naturalization of bidun and does not set a ceiling for the number of bidun that can be granted citizenship. They also suggested that the families of individuals who have died in service to the country be naturalized.
In addition, the lawmakers affirmed their belief that the families of POWs and the children of those who were martyred during the invasion be granted citizenship. The latest statistics reveal that more than 80,000 bidun currently reside in Kuwait.[9]
In the parliamentary debates over the Kuwaiti minimum wage, MPs Askar Al-Enezi and Sadoon Al-Otaibi have dismissed past wage increases as “too small” and not enough to meet the steep hikes in consumer prices. On February 21, 2008, the parliament approved a 120 dinar ($440) monthly pay rise for nationals in the public and private sectors after inflation hit 7.3%, a 15-year high. It also decided to raise by 50 dinars ($183) the pay of foreigners employed by the government. In response, Al-Enezi said, “We reject this increase because it is well below expectations. We urge the government to review its decision."[10]
On September 22, 2008, MP Saleh Al-Mulla demanded from Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Bader Al-Duwailah a list of companies involved in human trafficking. Mulla also asked about the measures taken against the violating companies and other steps that would be taken in the future to prevent such violations from taking place.[11]
On October 2, 2007, Waleed Al-Tabtabaie called for the interior ministry to draw up a blacklist of employers who mistreat their domestic helpers and urged stiff penalties for physical abuse. Al-Tabtabaie said that employers who abuse their maids "physically or morally" should be added to the blacklist and prevented from hiring new maids. Al-Tabtabie, a member of parliament's human rights panel, argued that the phenomenon of maid abuse "has lately increased to a disturbing level and a large number of abuses are committed annually, with most cases failing to reach the court."[12] In September 2007, Kuwait opened a temporary shelter to house runaway maids until their disputes with employers are resolved. The Kuwaiti government plans to open two permanent centres for males and females to be housed separately.[12]
In 2004 there was a push by the Kuwaiti parliament to reorganized Kuwait's voting districts. At the time, each of Kuwait's twenty-five districts had only about 10,000 voters. The plan was to cut down on vote-buying by reorganizing Kuwait into five districts with about 50,000 voters each. Although the redistricting reforms eventually went through, the Emir initially opposed them. At that time, Al-Awadhi stood with the Emir and against the majority in parliament, saying "I don't believe reducing the number will eliminate electoral malpractices such as vote buying and bribery. These violations should be dealt with using other effective methods rather than reducing the number of constituencies."[13] On May 13, 2007, the parliament voted 60-2 to reduce the number of districts from 25 to five. Ashour was critical of the redistricting on the grounds that the districts were uneven in size: "No one in the chamber is opposed to the five constituencies, but there are differences about the geographic distribution."[14] Later that week, Ashour held a rally outside the parliament building, telling the crowd: "The government bill is unfair and racist. It discriminates between Kuwaitis. It gives 70,000 Kuwaiti voters twenty MPs and the remaining 250,000 thirty MPs. Is this fair?"[15] Ashour also argued that the redistricting would promote tribalism.[16] It should be noted that a grassroots campaign called Nabeeha 5 meaning we want it five in Arabic was formed, which was spearheaded by the National Democratic Alliance and some independents, and it should be noted that the Youth Association of Kuwait (then National Democratic youth Association) was against the redistricting claiming that it marginalizes sects of society and it is unfair to the people, adding that it is a government idea to take over parliament.
In an August 11, 2008, interview with the Arab Times, Al-Mulla underscored the importance of recognizing political parties in Kuwait, arguing that these parties have been operating unofficially in the country since the 1930's: "The time has come for the enactment of a law to recognize and legalize political parties in the country."[17]
On May 17, 2005, the parliament granted Kuwaiti female suffrage. The bill, which passed with 35 votes for and 23 against, allows women to vote for the first time and run in parliamentary and local elections.[18]
In an August 11, 2008, interview with the Arab Times, Al-Mulla said, "Accepting women in the police force is a step in the right direction. We also hope to see women in the army soon. Like men, women are capable of securing the nation and its people. The Interior Ministry is the sole authority for determining the security duties of women."[17]
On November 28, 2007, the Interior Ministry announced that the first group of female police force were to begin. The female officers' uniform will include a mandatory head scarf. Face-veils will not be allowed. The female police force came in implementation of Amiri Decree number 221 of 2001 and cabinet decision number 109 of 2001.[19]
In 2007, Kuwait's parliament passed a controversial law banning women from working after 8 pm. This means that any job is closed to women in Kuwait between 8 pm and 7 am with the exception of women working in the medical profession. The law also has a clause that prohibits women from working in jobs that "contravene with public morals and in all-men service places at any time."
"The recent law is an addition to the old labor law (law no. 38 of 1964), which has been issued since decades prohibiting women from working at night, but gave the Minister of Social Affairs and Work the right to make many exceptions," explained Al-Rashed. "However, after the recent amendments, the working hours have been specified and gave officials working at the ministry the judicial jurisdiction to enforce fines on violators," he added. Al-Rashed added that the international convention related to women working at night specify that women shouldn't work at night in any hazardous jobs or "industrial undertakings".
Responding to the recently passed law, Kuwait women gathered at the Women Cultural Social Society's headquarters Sunday evening demonstrating their opposition to the law and calling on the government not to endorse the "defective law". "We send a petition to HH the Amir of Kuwait to return the law back to the Assembly and not be approved by the government," said Sheikha Al-Nisf, head of the Women Cultural Society. The gathering at the society wasn't limited to women opposing the law, as several men as well as prominent MPs also attended the sit-in.
"The law shouldn't include women only... We shouldn't look suspiciously at the woman, we should respect her. By asking to prevent women from working after 8 pm means that we doubt their abilities and this is not acceptable," MP Mohammad Al-Saqr told Kuwait Times. Though the law was passed in the National assembly, three MPs - Mohammad Al-Saqr, Ali Al-Rashed, and Faisal Al-Shaye - later publicly voiced their disagreement to the law and apologized that they voted in favor of the law.[20]
In April 2001, the parliament banned Kuwaiti women from playing soccer. The ban was passed shortly after Kuwait University organized a women's football tournament. MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie argued that it was not acceptable for the women's soccer tournament to be held in open because it would allow men to watch women's bodies and that that was clearly forbidden by Islam.[21] The ban was lifted in 2008.
In February 2005, in the wake of a wave of Al-Qaeda violence, the parliament unanimously passed a law giving police wide powers to search for and seize illegal weapons. MP Abdullah Al-Roumi was one of the main proponents of the bill, which makes it easier for police to obtain a warrant to search a private house for illegal weapons. The law also allows female inspectors to search women's quarters in private homes—quarters which are off limits to men according to Islamic rules. The parliament passed a similar law in 1992 to deal with a jump in gun ownership after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Lawmakers refused to extend that law in 1994, arguing that possession of weapons was a right.[22]
On December 10, 2007, the parliament passed a bill, supported by Al-Omair and Faisal Al-Muslim Al-Otaib, which amended the penal code so that anyone "imitating the appearance of a member of the opposite sex" could be jailed for up to a year or fined up to 1,000 dinars. When NGO Human Rights Watch criticized the law, Al-Omair accused the human rights organisation of luring other nations to practice vice and lewdness in the name of personal freedom.[23]
On July 10, 2001, Al-Azmi and Waleed Al-Tabtabaie presented a bill to amend the Gulf Arab state's penal code to meet Islamic sharia law. Amendments in the draft law included amputation of limbs for convicted thieves and flogging or stoning to death for adultery.[24]
On June 18, 2008, Al-Qallaf criticized Education Minister Nouriya Al-Subaih for not wearing the hijab, telling the Arab Times, "It is difficult to comprehend the new Cabinet as it consists of ministers with opposing views, including two women who refused to comply with the dress code stipulated by the Constitution..."[25]
On December 14, 2005, Waleed Al-Tabtabaie slammed the government for providing Christians with two plots of land to build churches, arguing that "the recent measure of allowing non-Muslims to build places of worship in Kuwait is illegal under Islamic law."
Al-Tabtabaie told the AFP that non-Muslims must be allowed to practice their religious rituals but without the need to establish places of worship. He said Kuwait at present has about 20 churches and the number of Kuwaiti Christians is less than 100, "which means there is a church for every five Kuwaiti Christians."[26]
Church sources told AFP that the Gulf Arab state has eight churches, four of which have their own permanent buildings and the rest are in rented homes. According to the sources, there are between 150 and 200 Kuwaiti Christians and up to 350,000 foreign Christians mostly from India, the Philippines, Egypt, Lebanon and the West.The government has recently allotted Christians two large pieces of state land to build churches, a measure that was welcomed by the head of parliament's human rights committee, MP Ali al-Rashed.
Kuwait was the first Gulf Arab state to establish direct links withVatican City and Emmanuel Benjamen al-Ghareeb became the first Kuwaiti pastor of the Anglican church in 1999. Other Gulf states like Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have churches, while Qatar announced in October that it will donate land to build the gas-rich emirate's first church.Churches are banned in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.[26]
On May 23, 2004, Waleed Al-Tabtabaie pressured the Islamic Affairs ministry to issue a fatwa banning "un-Islamic" concerts with women singers, such as the show Star Academy. Forbidden acts include "women singing to men... mixing between the sexes when women reveal part of their body, and using vulgar words and dancing." Star Academy is based on a hit French TV show of the same name in which male and female teenagers from different Arab countries live together before competing in a talent contest.[27]
On May 6, a Star Academy concert was held in Kuwait, despite demonstrations by hundreds of Islamist activists. Al-Tabtabaie further threatened to grill Kuwait's information minister over the matter.[27]
Al-Qallaf criticized the government's October 2008 stock-market bailout, alleging that it short-changed small investors and reasoning that the bailout money would be better spent on social allowances for the masses.[28]
On December 19, 2006, parliament voted 39-20 to reject a bill that would have seen the government write off $27bn of its citizens' private debts. Al-Rashid voted against the bill, accusing its proponents of succumbing to pressure by constituents so that they would be re-elected: "It is very easy for me to become a hero and to forget Kuwait, public money, the interest of our children and future generations."[29]
On October 28, 2008, the parliament voted 50-7 to insure all types of deposits in all local banks within Kuwait. Al-Qallaf opposed the bill, along with Jabir Al-Azmi, Daifallah Bouramiya, Mohammed Al-Obaid, Mohammed Hayef AlـMutairi, and Musallam AlـBarrak and Waleed AlـTabtabaie. Al-Qallaf accused the Cabinet of speeding up the bill's passage for the benefit of monetary tycoons.[30]
In November 2008, Al-Saraawi submitted a request for an expanded debate on the impact of the global financial crisis on Kuwaiti investments abroad, specifically the Future Generations Fund and the State Reserves Fund. The two funds are managed by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, mostly in the United States and Europe. Its assets were estimated at close to $300 billion before the outbreak of the global crisis. Saraawi said that it is no secret that there is a direct impact from the global financial meltdown on Kuwaiti investments. He added that MPs also want to know the extent of this impact on the country's financial surpluses in the past few years. A number of top officials, including the finance minister and the governor of the Central Bank, have explicitly said that Kuwaiti foreign holdings have been impacted by the crisis but stressed that the effect has so far been "small."[31]
See also the Shia in Kuwait page.
On September 16, 2007, Abdulsamad and fellow Shia MP Saleh Ashour spoke out against a planned Ramadan soap opera miniseries titled ‘’Sins Have a Price’’ which was to revolve around and criticize the Shiite form of temporary marriage known as "Mutaa.” In a public statement, Abdulsamad accused the series of giving "a total distortion of Shiism ... It also incites sectarianism... It is very provocative and comes at a sensitive time amid the sectarian tension in the region."
On October 10, 2005, Ashour asked the authorities to ensure protection for a Shiite mosque which was attacked by a fifty-person mob on a Friday night. The teenage mob set fire in a car in front of the mosque in al-Jahra city and threw stones at worshippers. Ashour added that the gathering raised banners against the Shiites, accusing them of helping the American forces in Iraq.[32]
Ashour further requested that the non-citizens who took part in the incident be deported: "the young persons who took part in the incident were not small children who did not know the results of their actions or the consequences of attacking a house of God."[33]
In November 2007, the parliament voted 51-2 to approve a law requiring all Kuwaiti public and shareholding companies to pay Zakat every year. Ashour voted against the law, arguing that it was discriminatory and that Shiites should demonstrate against it: "Passage of anti-minority laws in the Parliament will force us to voice out our objections through demonstrations and we will exhaust all legal means including the media to oppose such laws."[34][35]
On September 9, 2007, Kuwait Airways' board of directors, headed by ruling family member Sheikh Talal Mubarak al-Sabah, resigned following differences with the government over a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy new aircraft. In July, Al-Awadi had accused the corporation of squandering public funds and led the parliament to approve a recommendation by a three-MP inquiry committee, which called for top airline executives to be referred to the public prosecutor over alleged financial and administrative irregularities.[36]
on April 17, 2007, Al-Harbash and other MPs submitted documents to parliament claiming that several falcon shipments for "influential people" had been imported recently without proper testing. Kuwat banned bird imports as an avian influenza precaution, but the ban was eased since July 2006. Al-Harbash sees the smuggling as an example of corruption that puts the country at risk for bird flu: "Lifting the ban on falcons was a catastrophe. Why were they exempted from the ban despite warnings by doctors?" Al-Harbash says he will ask the parliament's health committee to study the situation and report back.
Kuwait reported 20 birds, including 18 falcons, were tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu on February 25 and so far the bird flu cases have reached to 132. In November 2005, Kuwait detected the first case of a bird infected with the H5N1 strain—a flamingo at a seaside villa.[37]
On February 8, 2008, Al-Ghanim, as head of the Youth and Sports Committee, agreed reform the Kuwaiti football program in line with the recommendations of FIFA.
In November 2007, FIFA had suspended Kuwait from all international matches because of governmental interference in the national football program. The dispute originated with Kuwait's October 9th elections for key posts in the country's soccer federation. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) refused to recognise the polls. FIFA said Kuwait had ignored the two bodies' "road map" of reforms requiring them to set up an interim board to organize fresh elections and draft new guidelines to prevent governmental interference in the game.[38][39]
Project Kuwait is a $7 billion, 25-year plan, first formulated in 1997 by the SPC, to increase the country's oil production (and to help compensate for declines at the mature Burgan field), with the help of international oil companies. In particular, Kuwait aims to increase output at five northern oil fields (Abdali, Bahra, Ratqa, Raudhatain, and Sabriya) from their current rate of around 650,000 barrels per day (103,000 m3/d) to 900,000 barrels per day (140,000 m3/d) within three years.
Al-Sane opposes Project Kuwait and allowing foreign oil companies into Kuwait. On December 23, 2005, Al-Sane told the press that he opposed the entry of these foreign companies because it is barred by the constitution: "The step the government wants to take is against the law, and we have to stand against it strongly... The constitutional issue is the main one. We're not against foreign investments, but the problem is that you have to stick to the constitution."[40][41]
On December 28, 2008, Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council scrapped a $17.4 billion joint venture with U.S. petrochemical giant Dow Chemical. The Cabinet argued that the venture, known as K-Dow Petrochemicals, was "very risky" in light of the global financial crisis and low oil prices. The move came just days before the Jan. 1 startup date for the joint venture.[42]
The project, in which Kuwait was to hold a $7.5 billion stake, had been criticized in the country as a waste of public funds, and lawmakers threatened to question the prime minister in parliament if it was launched. As criticism over the deal mounted in Kuwait, Oil Minister Mohammed al-Eleim defended the venture as profitable, saying it was carefully studied by international consultants for over two years.[43]
In November 2008, Al-Mutairi joined with fellow Islamist MPs Waleed AlـTabtabaie and Mohammed AlـMutair in filing a request to grill Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah for allowing prominent Iranian Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Fali to enter Kuwait despite a legal ban.[44]
On November 21, 2008, AlـShayji criticized calls for unconstitutional dissolution of Parliament, saying that such a move would avail thieves to plunder public funds: "Despite all the drawbacks within the National Assembly, the Parliament plays a crucial role in serving the country and the people."[45]