May 16th is just a few days away, this is when I will be voting for my representative that will be speaking in my name to the government. I took interest in many of those new TV channels and newspapers to see what options are available to me, just in case my initial choices are clouded. Apparently, many, of not all of the candidates speak (or shout!) about the same issues:
-Education
-Economy
-Social Development
-Loan write-offs
So I tried to filter them down into groups:
-Independants: They have their own agenda and their own reasons
-Liberals: They have a case to make, but very few followers
-Islamicists: Their agenda is dictated by their own interpretations of their religion
-Tribalists: They want to scoop up Kuwait's wealth in order to catch up with Kuwait's Merchant Families
-Fortune-Seekers: They just want to be paid off and get their 2 months' vacation.
The independants want to make a difference, but don't have the right backing, so they gradually veer towards one or more of the other group.
The Liberals assume to absorb all factions of society, but their views are in direct contradiction (deliberately so in some cases) with those of the other groups, namely the Islamicists.
The Islamicists, depending on whether they're Shiite or Sunni, are an obvious choice to their followers, but depend mostly on their ethnicity (Arab-Persian), and may at times collaborate with others from the Independants or the Liberals.
The Tribalists will ally themselves with either another tribe or a Sunni Islamic faction for more votes, and not much else, but with the promise of collaboration within the Parliament, feeble as it may be.
The Fortune-Seekers are just there to make noise (and a few KD's for their summer vacation) and scatter real votes around.
I listened to all of these groups' speakers, (nearly all, I can't stand some of them!) and concluded that they're all depending on people like me to vote for them, because once they get voted into office, they have the power to bring down an entire government...imagine the power?!
This is the power that I possess as a registered voter, the power to bring down a government by proxy....think about this for a second, and remember that not too far south there are governments that have been in office for years and decades, stealing, plundering and jailing (and killing!) with no remorse and no retention.
I, for one, do not want to give this power to someone just because he picked up the phone and gave me a job, or expedited my son's scholarship or even convinved a bank to loan me a bunch of money to plunder away, and then ask him to pressure the government to write it off!
I want to give it to a candidate that knows about the heavy weight of it's responsibility, someone that can do something to stop the government from passing a bill that would destroy my economy for years to come.
While I sometimes refrain from endorsing anyone or any particular group, I make no secret of the fact that Islamicists and Tribalists are off my list! Their views are in direct conflict with those that I have, and indeed of a true Democracy, since their agenda-by it's very nature-imposes restrictions on how I think and how I live my life. Which brings me to the Independants and the Liberals.
Now, here are a bunch of people I can relate to: They have an agenda of social development, they are fully aware (and have a proven track record) of the resonsibilites pertinent to running a country in the 21st Century, they let me go about my business, and they move to uphold the constutition as it is and regard it as a sacred document-not to be amended to suite anyone's agenda, and they leave me to my own choice as to how I practice my religion, live my life and educate my kids.
That, to me, is a true Democracy, I hope and pray that I'm right. I have the power to vote them into office, and as the saying goes, "With Power comes Responsibility". I therefore am responsible for the choices I make, and Pray to God that I would be able to fathom this responsibility on May 16th.
What about you?
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