The escaping [Archives:2006/969/Community]

By: Barkatullah Marwat
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There is no escaping the fact that Kuwait is one of the richest states of the Middle East, but in the same way it is the very state that suffered as a result of Saddam's invasion. The damages and losses it incurred can be measured by the fact that the UNCC (United Nations Compensation Commission) is still disbursing the compensation in installments to cover the financial losses.

Now let's take a look at the employment-market situation of Kuwait, which is becoming saturated day by day by the influx of new people from different countries, who are unaware of the current employment situation. There is a tendency to see Kuwait as a dream state. But once they reach their destination, they realize that 'distant drums are gratifying'.

Usually, there are two or three types of unemployment. Firstly, there are those who intentionally don't want to work, despite many opportunities. Secondly there are those who seek employment but fail to find jobs and thirdly there are those who find jobs but have some problems, such as undue administrative pressure, withholding of salaries or simply the problem of not finding a job in accordance with their experience. Now a question arises: can a medical officer join legal proceedings as a counsel or can an LLB graduate join a hospital? Of course not.

Let's not forget that no one leaves his homeland willingly, but due to certain compulsions. During my stay in Kuwait, I observed countless cases roving that some people take a long time to find their feet while some do it quickly. This was one of the problems for a friend of mine, who worked in Kuwait with a private company as a mechanical engineer. He was not satisfied with what he was doing and what he was offered. Finally, he succeeded in moving to Canada and joined a project related to Uranium exploration, where two years back his efforts and achievements were recognized with a presidential award. This is an example of the reasons why people are trying to flee Kuwait.

I agree with the comments made by one of the editors, saying that Kuwait is populated by citizens as well as expatriates and that all the expatriates have not come from the third world countries alone but also from the most developed and advanced ones, such as the U.S., UK, Canada, Europe, Japan etc.

Now a question arises, were those who arrived from the developed countries unemployed in their respective countries? They went to Kuwait to contribute to making a more economically successful country for the local and non-local people. To take the example of the UAE, which is growing up very fast in regard to commerce and economy, it has become a center of business activities for both regional and global entrepreneurs.

I also agree with the Chief Editor, Mr Ahmed Jarallah's comments about the Ruling family, asking them not to participate in the forthcoming elections as they are different from the other candidates. Kuwait is a democratic state but it is not yet fully developed. Ask me how? Because the portfolios of the premiership and other key minorities like defense, foreign affairs and interior are managed by members of the ruling family, while in a democratic state, the election of a president, prime minister, and the ministers is conducted through a democratic process.

The concept of a democratic system, specially introduced and enforced by the West, has miserably failed due to several reasons, some of them I would like to summarise here:

1) The first setback a nation witnesses is the loss of unity. There is no more unity among the bigwigs of a nation. They are divided and re-divided into different groups and factions. In other words, the sense of 'nationalism' is naturally converted into 'tribalism'.

2) There is no electoral college/institution that can train the contesting candidates on how to deal with the national and international issues after making their way to the corridor of the parliament. We see that most of them are either legal or medical practitioners. Very few of them possess the in-depth knowledge of politics and political science.

3) After election, two bodies are formed, namely treasury and opposition. Needless to say, constitutionally, the majority is asked to form the government. But unfortunately, they pay attention more to their personal needs rather than the problems found in their constituencies. They grill the ministers for apparently national issues, but behind it they have their own personal motives. So generally, we see them doing good, whilst in fact they are weakening the parliament, where not only the members of the treasury are sitting but they too are the part of the process. So the process of a tug-of-war, victimization and conspiracies is initiated.

4) The elected members are always seen making tall claims and promises to their voters; which seem instantly forgotten as soon as power is achieved. During their campaign, they are easily approached and ready to assist each voter, but once the elections are over, they wear the glasses through which they no longer recognize you.

5) Let me explain here my first point, that politicians lose unity. Yes, I have a valid reason to say that. It is not only in Kuwait, but everywhere else that the so-called democracy is in practice. Regarding Kuwait, let us take for example, those who are contesting the polls. If you look at the election banners, posters etc erected along the roadsides, then you will see that none of them ever mentions “Al Kuwaiti”” with their names. Everyone puts their tribal name