Our honorable councils. What are we going to get?

Our honorable councils, greetings...

I have an intervention, a wish, and a question, and I apologize if you don’t like it. I begin with the draft law on the civil rights of illegal residents, as these people left all the concerns of the homeland and entered a scheme with a humanitarian cover, but inside it is nothing but the losing of the people’s rights and the settlement of those who do not deserve. I read the draft law, which exceeded the demand for naturalization of eligible brothers of Bedoon, and they acknowledged that naturalization is a sovereign matter, so the demand was to give them a civil ID and treat them like Gulf nationals, beside allowing them to work in the government and other advantages. But this loosely proposed idea exceeded the rights and bypassed those entitled to settle tens of thousands of plaintiffs in preparation for their naturalization after several years under the principle of the fait accompli. Otherwise, we will have a parallel population of citizens, neither Kuwaiti nor Gulf nor expatriate, who may outnumber citizens and infiltrate state joints, making the problem unsolvable.  In order to complete this idea, leave some threads to the government, and this is nothing but a right that is intended to be void. The issues of naturalization, counterfeiters, and Bedoon must be resolved in a concurrent, integrated, and radical manner, and then the door to naturalization must be closed forever. Let us leave these issues and talk about the state budget, which, in its first session, shook the dome of Abdullah Al-Salem with the protests of the representatives. How do you want us to agree on a budget of billions in one session? Of course, they are right, and I personally believed them, but the wonder is what happened in the following session, with the approval of the members of the National Assembly and by an overwhelming majority! Well, where are your statements, "Let us study them, read them, and analyze them"? Whoever heard your speech in that session can easily say that you may need months to understand it and its provisions, and all that happened is that the government agreed to add some items to it and promised them more than one other item. How I wish that any of you asked the Minister of Finance about the state of the sovereign fund. Or the status of the Public Institution for Social Security investments? And where do we end up in the midst of global inflation and interest rate increases? Did any of you notice that most of the stock and bond markets have lost between 20% and 25% of their value since the beginning of the year, and there is a possibility of another decline of 10% during the first quarter of next year? Here, I say to the National Assembly representative who calls for the localization of investment and believes that Kuwait’s sovereign fund has more than $700 billion: you should first ask about the extent to which the fund is affected by the decline in the markets, and then you can talk and demand. I remember what he said before the elections, when he announced that he had files and documents that contained corruption by others that he refused to present to Nazaha (Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority) and promised to submit them directly to the Prime Minister. Have you submitted them or not yet? We are waiting for you, and we haven't forgotten. As for those who demand the distribution of 20% of the reserve account to the citizens, we are speechless, and we seek Allah’s help from you all. I had hoped that the Minister of Finance would request a secret meeting and discuss with the Council the financial situation of the state and its sovereign funds, show them the seriousness of these populist demands, and show them that the increase in oil prices came as a lifeline to get out of the bottleneck and get out of the deficit, as such opportunities may not be repeated.  Besides that, the rise in oil prices is a temporary matter, and prices will return to decline soon. This information must be clearly mentioned and proven in the National Assembly minutes so that no one will blame the government in the future, saying we did not know, and no one informed us of this information. This person must stand firm in front of these demands instead of shouting, saying: "We emphasize the policy of rationalizing expenditure while preserving the welfare of citizens. This year, we will achieve budget surpluses and provide liquidity to cover the deficits due to the high oil prices. Dear Minister, you know the financial situation very well, and may Allah help you and the government. If you have to spend, spend on increasing the salaries of citizens with low incomes and on retirees. Before that, you should control inflation and increase state revenues instead of getting leave balance amounts and other cash grants, most of which are wasted on luxuries and poured into the accounts of merchants. Your Excellency The minister of finance, you should not try to satisfy this council; there is no point in that, and they have an agenda on which to work. When it comes to the state budget, you should all be merciful, and keep in mind that you have children and grandchildren to whom we all owe them, and I conclude with a worthy question: Where are we going to get?! 

Stay Safe.