40° 24' N , 3° 42' E

KUWAIT TIMES POLL

Will the enforcement of income tax improve public services?

Yes
22%
No
77%

To the disappointment of Kuwait's liberal front, the Ministry of Interior has banned Egyptian liberal Islamist thinker Nasr Abu Zaid from entering Kuwait. As soon as he arrived at Kuwait International Airport on Tuesday evening, Abu Zaid was told that his visa was invalid and informed that he would be sent back to Egypt on a return flight the same night.

Abu Zaid had been invited by the Women's Cultural Social Society to give two lectures on Islam and democracy. Abu Zaid, who is known for his radical theories on Islam, has previously been accused of abandoning the Islamic faith, leaving in the mid 1990s for Europe, where he now lives.

The Ministry of Interior's decision to ban Abu Zaid from entering Kuwait appears to have been influenced by pressure from Islamist MPs, most of whom had adopted a negative stance against Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, whose no-confidence vote session in the parliament is due to be held today.

Talking to the press, Islamist MP Walid Al-Tabtabae said that it is surprising that a person like Abu Zaid was invited to Kuwait in the first place, questioning the intentions of whoever organized this event. "Kuwait does not need to import issues; these radical views on religion are alien to our society and are not welcome," he said.

MP Ali Al-Omair asserted that Kuwait is a land of faith, where religion figures hugely and thanked the Ministry of Interior (MoI) for its efforts, saying, "Such radical ideology has no place here in Kuwait.

Tribal MP Mohammad Al-Mutair said that a "blasphemous irreligious person like Abu Zaid is not welcome to enter Kuwait with his beliefs because it is damaging to our society," adding that religion is a red line that cannot be crossed in the name of freedom. (for full article click here)

Transparency International has come out with its rankings of perceptions of corruption for the year 2009. As you can see, Qatar ranks lowest in terms of perceived corruption, while Kuwait, unfortunately fares the least well for the Gulf Region. You can see the interactive map here.

Today the law changed to allow Kuwaiti women to obtain their passports without permission from a husband or male guardian. According to Al-Jazeera English:

Kuwait environment 'highly polluted'

KUWAIT TIMES POLL

Should the government scrap the sponsorship system?

Yes
87%
No
6%
Not right now
6%

The Al Watan Daily, Arab Times and Kuwait Times newspapers are reporting that Kuwait’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is making small moves towards the abolishment of the “kafeel” sponsorship system, beginning with allowing expatriot workers in the private sector to transfer their residencies without the approval of their sponsor.

This leniency is granted provided on the condition that the worker has been with the sponsor at least three years before transferring residency. The Minister, Dr, Mohammed AlـIfasi, spoke to reporters of Al Rai at a Kuwait Pearl Diving Ceremony and, as the Al-Watan Daily reports, also mentioned that the entire Department would also go under a drastic restructuring to facilitate reforms of the sponsorship and cut bureaucracy.

According to The Kuwait Times, Dr. Al-Ifasi was quoted as saying that, “they are being sold for certain sums of money as if we were living in the age of slavery.”

The Arab Times interviewed several leading politicians and academics about their opinions on the overhaul of Kuwait’s current sponsorship scheme. One of these, Dr Humaid Qanas, exercised caution in implementing proposals without a solid and well-researched understanding of the underlying problems, noting that similiar countries that have abolished the system only did so after many years of conducting studies before implementing policies.

“Stating that Kuwait is fond of putting attractive titles on such a vital issue, but there will be no traces of its functions at the end of the day, Qanas urged the government to assign specialists to study the proposal and put the final touches for its full implementation.

“The issue is similar to many other proposals like the housing, education and healthcare projects, which do not have clear plans or serious inclination for success. We should get it right this time, because the issue has dented Kuwait’s image in the international community,” the academician suggested.”

"The Kuwaiti Human Rights Society (KHRS) has urged the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) to act against companies that illegally force their workers to work under the sun during noon time, and to pass laws that would penalize the employers in question for doing so.

The KHRS issued a statement in which it said that members had witnessed a number of workers working during midday hours, when the summer temperatures in Kuwait can exceed 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), reported Al-Qabas.

Forcing workers to work in these conditions breaks the country's labor laws, which permit the ministry to intervene to protect workers from such treatment, which could be severely damaging to their health, the society added." (click here for link)

The KHRS statement asserted that these companies' actions clearly demonstrated the company owners' and managers' lack of respect for helpless workers' human rights."

An interesting opinion piece that criticizes the pervasive denial among Kuwaiti government officials in reaction to the US State Department's Human Rights Report.

"Although Kuwait''s ranking on the U.S. State Department''s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report remained at Tier III, the report noted that the Kuwaiti government has begun to examine this issue in a more serious light.

Two days ago, an opinion piece by Nabeel Al-Awadi ran in the Al-Watan Daily entitled "The Government's Questionable Intentions". The article criticizes the liberal MP Doshti for suddenly focusing on social issues when she had run on a platform of prioritization for economic reform. Fine. However, in the third paragraph the author puts his foot in his mouth when it becomes clear that economic reform is not any of his top priorities either.

"Women won four seats in the Kuwaiti parliamentary elections over the weekend, a historic first and one of several electoral surprises that appeared to reflect a deep popular frustration with the political deadlock in the oil-rich gulf state of Kuwait.

Liberal Kuwaitis celebrated the landmark with fireworks and parties after the elections on Saturday. Women gained the right to vote and run for office in 2005, but none had been elected until now. Many conservatives resisted the idea, and in recent weeks Islamists urged voters not to elect women to the 50-seat assembly." (for full link, click here)

"KUWAIT: The six Gulf States have been subject to severe criticism over the sponsorship system, also known as the kafeel system.

KUWAIT: Academics agreed that the relative drop in performance of the former all-male parliament was likely to boost the chances of female candidates getting elected, found a study conducted by KUNA.

"Kuwait University's political science professor Dr. Abdulredha Asiri told KUNA that he expects many more males will be voting for women in this election round, and their choices will likely be more rational and realistic than before.

He said, however, that before focusing on the performance of men, one must admit that women contributed to their gender's failure to reach the parliament because many favored male candidates over females.

Asiri noted that the matriarchal mentality which claims that women are
incapable of representing the nation had driven many women to exert greater efforts to win a parliamentary seat and defend the basic rights of women, who constitute more than half of all voters.

Moreover, he explained that although caring for the home and children were important roles played by many women, political activity is also essential and women need to be included in deciding the country's fate..." (click here for full article)

Following this article, I have my direct responses to each of the men interviewed, person by person.  Please read.

Angie Galal, Staff Writer

"KUWAIT: With elections being less than two weeks away, candidates are steaming ahead with their campaigns as they race against the clock. However, most voters are still elusive about their choices, some saying they are overwhelmed at the abundance of choices and confused about whom to vote for.

Nevertheless, the parliament elections this round have witnessed developments regarding women''s political rights. The number of women candidates has increased compared to the last three elections, and their campaign objectives have drifted away from feminism to general problems and issues of interest that relate to all sects of society.

However, some Kuwaiti men still controversially perceive women''s ineligibility to participate in the parliamentary elections.

Abdulrahman Alـ Asousy, an engineer at a governmental ministry, said that he does not support women being in parliament.

"The make up of women is different from men. Women''s emotions drive their decisions, while the position requires absolute logic. Both women and men have gender roles in society, and I don''t think that throughout history any woman leader has succeeded in her position."

Abdulaziz AlـDekhail, a supervisor at a governmental institution, agreed with AlـAsousy, confirming that he has never voted for a woman and does not plan to do so in the future.

"I was brought up seeing men in the parliament; this is what I am used to and this is what we were taught to do. Women don''t take legislative decisions."

For his part, Mohammad Quraiby is concerned that women are beginning to dominate men in society and overly intermingling with them.

"I wouldn''t like a woman to be a man''s boss, and it''s possible for me to reach a man anytime I want, while women will confine our capability. I''m for women''s political right to vote, but not their candidacy. The diwan (parliament) is solely for men, and I believe that women can''t be present there just like as it is with diwaniyas."

Yet, on the other hand, some believe that women candidates have improved compared to their prior trials.

"I''m considering voting for women this parliamentary round because I have noticed that they are getting better. The women that I''m planning to vote for are Masouma AlـMubarak, Aseel AlـAwadhi and Salwa AlـJassar, and I''m suspecting that at least one woman will make it into parliament this time," said Waleed Jumah, an employee at one of Kuwait''s petroleum companies.

Mohammad Sowayel, considering the same women candidates as Jumah, added that he has attended all of the candidate''s lectures and believes that they "speak their heart.

"I am not going to vote for any man this round of elections. They have always promised us many things, but never met any of them."

Sowayel also believes that "once men reach their desired goals, they forget about those who stood by them, while women always remember the favours and pay them back."

As Kuwaiti men and women ponder the thought of whether women will be able to finally make it into the parliament or not, one thing is certain: it will be determined within the coming few days." (click here for link to article)

----------------------------------------------

To Abdulrahman Alـ Asousy and his “women are biologically more emotional than men” argument:

I am sorry to say, but there is a strong correlation between a country’s level of development and the amount of female participation in politics.  I went to the World Bank’s Data Section, to Genderstats, and looked at the data on Political Participation.  This gave me an indicator on Proportion of Seats Held by Women in National Parliament.  According to the ranking of women participation in lower houses collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Kuwait ranks  127 of 134, just below Haiti, Mongolia and Vanuatu (click here for full chart)

There are plenty of female heads of state currently running countries with much greater levels of democracy than Kuwait (Merkel in Germany, Bachelet in Chile), and this number is only growing thus proving that given fair social conditions, women have perfect ability to make sharp decisions through logical reasoning and critical thinking.

And, please, I challenge you to tell me that the recent history of male-dominated parliamentarians and election cycles are a bastion of the power of males to demonstrate their logical reasoning for decision-making, unguided by emotional appeals and irrational arguments?

To Abdulaziz AlـDekhail and his “women as passive players is all I know and grew up with” argument:

Well, you need to grow up.  This is not a sound basis for denying women the chance to participate in politics. True change requires individuals to make a dramatic departure from the rules of the game in the present.  Just recently in the United States, voters placed in to power a man whose father would have been denied a seat in a restaurant to eat, for example.  Now, his son is president.

If anything, this is the most cowardly argument, hiding behind the idea of being a product of one’s environment when it reality, when we make decisions to allow or not allow something we become an active participant in shaping society.  When Al-Dekhail  does not take responsibility of the way things are,  he is excusing himself from being accountable for the actions he takes and the bigotry he chooses to hold on to.

To Mohammad Quraiby and his “if we give them this, their demands will never stop”, slippery slope argument:

It is obvious he is a beneficiary of the status quo, enjoys making important political decisions behind the closed doors of diwaniyahs and will only change his position in a situation where he loses out from denying women candidacy.  He represents the old generation of Kuwaiti politics, and I hope there will be a growing movement of young Kuwaitis seeking change to replace him.  Behind his statements is simple, unabashed deep fear.

To Supporter Waleed Jumah:

It is good that you notice that women are getting more politically savvy, self-confident and aware of the game.  This proves testament to the fact that women only need to be properly bolstered and supported when introduced to politics for the first time.  This also disproves the argument that women are biologically inferior for politics, but rather it shows that political participation requires social conditioning, positive reinforcement and acceptance by other members of society.

To Supporter Mohammad Sowayel: 

I really think it is correct that for as long as there is an “old boy’s club” in politics in Kuwait there will be none of the real change that many Kuwaitis seem to be yearning for in politics.  This real change I believe is to be found in the introduction of women in parliament.  Kuwaitis should at least give it a chance.  And it will take more than one election cycle to prove itself around, but it’s a definite big step for change—and in the right direction.  

This little gem of a piece had me recollecting the fear v. love scene in Donnie Darko.  The way religious fear and democracy promotion are tied together in this article is the most bizarre marriage of ideas.  I will make bold the highlights.  Is fearing God the only way to motivate people?  How very Jonathan Edwards!

The ever-unfolding drama of the women's police force really fascinates me.  I will continue following up and posting for as long as articles are written about the matter.  Congratulations to the brave female officers unafraid to defend their merits.  As I had criticized in my earlier post on the policewomen controversy, I am happy to finally see that female officers were interviewed for this piece.