وعلمت‮ »‬الأيام‮« ‬انالوÙÂاق لم تØÂسم امرها بشكل نهائي‮ ‬بشأنØÂضور الجلسة‮ ‬،‮ ‬وأنأمينعام الوÙÂاق النائب الشيخ علي‮ ‬سلمانالتقى أمس برÙÂقة ثلاثة نواب منكتلته مع جهات عليا،‮ ‬كما سيعقد سلماناليوم مؤتمرا صØÂاÙÂيا،‮ ‬يعلنÙÂيه موق٠كتلته ليوضؠØÂيثيات قراره ÙÂي‮ ‬ما‮ ‬يتعلق بجلسة توزيع المناصب‮.
Can someone please remind me what democracy really is and how the principal of a majority should be allowed to rule if directly elected by the people? So why is it (a) that Al-Wefaq gets 62% of the vote and they are a minority in parliament, and (b) why is it that positions within parliament are being dictated by “external forces”?
So it looks at this moment that there is a possibility of the parliament’s dissolution even before it convenes for the first time!
my translation: It appears to Al-Ayam newspaper that Al-Wefaq has not made a final decision regarding its attendance of the ceremonial inaugural session of parliament [this afternoon which will be inaugurated by the King in the presence of the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince], and that its general secretary Shaikh Ali Salman met yesterday together with 3 other members of parliament with the higher echelons [of the ruling family] and that he [Salman] will hold a press conference today to declare his party’s position regarding the distribution of leading positions in the forthcoming parliament.
update 10:17 Al-Wasat newspaper has more details.
Comments
You don’t really believe you live in a true democracy do you? Even here in the States you can win the popular vote and lose the electoral college and there by lose an election.
I am under no illusions Jett. I have always realised that our version of democracy is dependent on the premise of a full, unequivocal and unquestioned hold on power and resources the ruling family can get. And what has been happening specifically since Nov 25th, 2006 is proof positive of that.
My “push”, if you like, has always been to encourage the achievement of this “constitutional monarchy” which we have been promised; unfortunately what that has transformed into now is nothing but a total dictatorial oligarchy.
The danger of this situation is explosive. People will no longer just sit and shut up; they want democracy and they will get it, one way or the other. Therefore, it behooves the higher echelons of power to recognise that fact, or those close enough to them ensure that they are cognizant of it in order to avoid a most certain ensuing of chaos.
It’s either that, or it is akin to a situation of “chicken” being played with the fate of a country and 700,000 souls.
I guess that’s what happens when the core of your constitution is flawed, the concept some people take up about trying to fix it using its own means is a hallucination. How do you look to fix such a mess and use it at the same time, you’re just cementing its flaws.
And still to this day we’re all sitting around waiting for a grand intervention from above, be it constitutional change, cabinet change, salary increases or even having our loans written off, we’re not looking at the parliament for that, we know it’s not within its powers, or even close to.
A lot of people have been brainwashed to believe life should all be about “makaram” o “hebat”, when it’s supposed to be a right.
I just hope this is a small glitch that will resolve itself today, Opposition is already being compared to Lebanon’s… gah, it’ll be sorted..
“we’re all sitting around waiting for a grand intervention from above, be it constitutional change, cabinet change, salary increases or even having our loans written off, we’re not looking at the parliament for that, we know it’s not within its powers, or even close to.
A lot of people have been brainwashed to believe life should all be about “makaram†o “hebatâ€Â, when it’s supposed to be a right.”
sadly, these hebas have created an attitude among our population of being happy to sit back and accept charity, some of which should be their right and some of which they should be earning. this results in a society which does not distinguish between people’s rights and people’s priveleges. We have the right to decent salaries, we don’t have the right to have loans written off. we have the right to not be falsely arrested, we don’t have the right to be released when destroying property or injuring others. we have the right to be treated equally when we apply for a job, we don’t have a right to a job. etc. etc.
Well, someone should send that memo to the Royal Court. The king has ordered a discount of 50% on all housing loans.
That is inherently unfair of course. I’ve got a housing loan but one that I took out myself and am paying for myself one Dinar after the other, painfully. By what right do my compatriots who have taken out loans from the Ministry of Housing get their loans halved while us, private hard working individuals, don’t?
Another thing that is unfair… and promotes the very lethargic needy feeling that you described.
.. and an increase in pensions, which means that even more contributions from current workers will have to be collected to pay for these increases to (non-contributing) pensioners – who did not pay for these increases when they were working.. Anyone like to guess how long GOSI/PFC will last?
It will last as long as oil are at current prices. The more instability, the higher the price ..