On twitter I asked whether or not it was likely that Kuwait would have protests. I highly doubted it since Kuwaitis seem very comfortable in their lifestyle. One gal(@mssenos) emphatically said, "NO WAY!" but another girl (@thuraiia) said, "yep. Sometime around March 13." The conversation between the 3 of us continued. MSSENOS asked THURIIA, "For what?!" & THURIIA replied, "the resignation of the prime minister and his government. it's been going on since last year. Thousands of people showed up in the last one {protest]. I was there! I don't know the estimate of the next one though." I had asked THURIIA of a guess as to how many people would actually show up.
Now according to Kuwait Times online, they confirm that protests are planned as soon as March 8.
In fact there are 2 groups, opposite in nature it seems, that both call for the resignation of the Prime Minister & his cabinet. One opposition group is apparently more conservative than the current cabinet (any more conservative & you're in Saudi Arabia in my opinion!) & the other group is a liberal group. I have a feeling that the more conservative group may be the exact people Al-Hilal wrote about in his article "Free Kuwaitis From The Shackles Of Radicalism" in the Arab Times. I re-posted his opinion article in my blog because I found his thoughts to be refreshing. Here's the link to that post:
http://adventuresinkuwait.blogspot.com/2011/01/free-kuwaitis-from-shackles-of.html
Here's a link to an article that talks about the Fifth Fence youth group. They're tackling WASTA!
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/youth-group-fifth-fence-calls-for-kuwait-government-to-go
Well, for more accurate information on this topic, I have re-posted the article from Kuwait Times. This is the URL:
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTUyMjUxMTUw
Pressure mounting on premier to step down
Published Date: March 01, 2011
By B Izzak, Staff Writer
KUWAIT:
Pressure mounted on Prime Minister HH Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to resign as two opposition groups explicitly called for forming a new government under a new prime minister. The Popular Action Bloc headed by veteran MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun called in a statement yesterday for forming a new government under a new prime minister that should start necessary political reforms. Later, KUNA reported HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will address the nation today. Sheikh Sabah addressed
the nation on Thursday and reiterated his commitment to parliamentary democracy and to the 49-year-old constitution. Kuwait was the first Arab state in the Gulf to have a parliament in 1962.
The Popular Action Bloc's statement insisted that the six cabinets headed by Sheikh Nasser since his appointment to the post in Feb 2006 have failed to enforce any reforms and has only acted to create divisions in the society that has threatened national unity. "The first step toward reform and correction is in forming a new government under a new leadership capable of running the country," said a statement by the bloc, adding that the current Cabinet under its leadership has failed in running the affairs
of the country.
The Popular Action Bloc believes that the new approach of the new government under its new premier should be aiming at reforming the imbalances facing the country," the statement said. The new government should "halt the forces of corruption, preserve the constitution and activate and apply all its articles, safeguard public funds and protect public properties", it said. The new Cabinet should also "reform education, upgrade healthcare, safeguard freedoms and find solutions for unemployment and housing,
it added. The bloc, which has four MPs in the 50-member Assembly and several supporters, said that the new Cabinet must be formed of highly qualified and honest statesmen who will effectively participate in taking political decisions.
The youth group Fifth Fence also called in a statement yesterday for changing the Cabinet and the prime minister and called on its supporters for a protest on March 8 at the National Assembly to press for changing the prime minister and the Cabinet. The Fifth Fence insisted that during the past five years, the Cabinet failed to forge with reforms and development and in facing and halting corruption in the country. The protest was due to be held on Feb 8 but was delayed because of Kuwait's national occasion
s in the month of February.
On Saturday, a newly-formed liberal movement, the Kuwaiti Progressive Group, also called for the resignation of the prime minister and forming a new Cabinet and a new prime minister. The new demands come amid reports that a top level meeting by the Al-Sabah ruling family was recently held and decided that the government of Sheikh Nasser will resign after marking Kuwait's national events and most probably before the National Assembly reconvenes on March 8 after six weeks of holidays. The reports, carried by
the online newspaper Al-Aan, said it was not immediately known if the meeting decided to change the prime minister or not.
Also, first deputy prime minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said on Saturday that a number of meetings were held that included him, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah and deputy premier for economic affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah with three leading figures. Sheikh Jaber said the meetings discussed local political developments but gave no further details. Local observers believe that the Cabinet will resign before March 8 and expect one of two scenarios to take plac
e: either Sheikh Nasser carries out an expanded reshuffle or a new prime minister is appointed to form a new Cabinet.
Sheikh Nasser has been under increasing pressure to resign and in January narrowly survived a non-cooperation vote that could have ousted him. Since being appointed, Sheikh Nasser has fought almost non-stop with the opposition in parliament and five of his six cabinets were forced to resign. As a result of ongoing political crises, parliament was also dissolved three times.
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