I previously wrote an article addressing the “then” significant issue of Kuwaitis laid-off from the private sector. The title of that article was a sarcastic one; “Want a one year PAID vacation? Get Fired NOW*”. Unfortunately, there are two major taboos in Kuwait: religion and populist demands. Examples of such populist demands span from debt forgiveness to the ridiculously spoiling laid-off benefits proposals.
Every few days (yes, our parliament is that active!) members propose a new populist demand. Sometimes it is sparked by a newspaper, an event, or merely a random insignificant person. The problem is that our government always falls pray for these demands and gives them extensive attention by simply making the critical assumption that everything brought up by parliament is a significant issue worthy of total consideration. These continuous parliamentary requests, among other things, distract our limited government and derail any potential progress in all fronts. Consequently, our priorities such as health care, education, and economic reform are never addressed.
A perfect example is the issue of Kuwaitis being laid-off the private sector. I was reading Al-Jarida newspaper and it states that only 350 individuals are enrolled in the newly enacted and highly debated laid-off Kuwaitis program. This constitutes a mere 0.035% of our population! Previously, parliament members were suggesting the number was at least 5000 individuals and gave the issue all their attention for over a month. There were never-ending meeting by the parliament’s finance committee and the government established a special committee of high-ranking ministers to solve this “imminent” issue. Was it an issue? Yes. Was it worthy of all this time and attention? Surely NOT. This time should’ve been more efficiently used to address fundamental economic issues such as establishing a “Capital Market Authority” which has been delayed for decades.
Will the parliament stop? No, populist calls give them votes. Will the government say “STOP IT” and start to lead? No. What happens next? Parliament wastes one or two more months discussing another moral hazardous issue: loans write-off proposal. And so it goes..
God bless Kuwait.
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“Consequently, our priorities such as health care, education, and economic reform are never addressed.”
That is simply not true.
These priorities are discussed extensively during election season and forgotten later.
It is us simpletons who allow MPs to insult our intelligence during the elections.
It is us simpletons who ensure their seats in the Parliament.
And most importantly, it is us simpletons who seem to like the idea of forgiving loans and disregard its consequences for the sake of short term gains.
I’m generalizing of course.
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Keynesian Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 3:15 pm
This is very true. The reason I called all these demands populist is because they stem from us/ appease us, the spoiled “temporary welfare” citizens. What I meant with the word “address” is not the passive rhetorical meaning, but the action of really doing something about the issues.
I can’t agree more that we are the biggest whiners and the major culprits behind the arrival and continuation of incompetent parliament members in power. That is why I believe it is imperative upon us to educate the naives and raise our points of views on moral hazard, social responsibility, and economic reform. The problem is that we are a minority and when we raise these issues we are attacked as being inhumanitarian. This is unfair and systematically has to change. Maybe we should use the same rhetoric; raise our voices and grab headlines.
[Reply]
*claps really hard for Abdulmohsen*
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[...] The country is daily riding a roller-coaster of politics orchestrated by a cynical populist parliament and a fragile inefficient government. The political roller-coaster is circulating in a never-ending fashion from impeachment to dissolution. When is it going to end? I don’t want to elaborate on the political side. For more, refer to my previous post titled, “Parliamentary plays derail reform.” [...]