Parliament Candidates Discuss their Vision at AUK

The Model United Nations Club at the American University of Kuwait (MUNAUK) organized a panel discussion entitled Rescuing a Nation. The discussion hosted a number of parliament candidates and took place on Wednesday, January 25th in the AUK Auditorium.

During the discussion, which was moderated by Dr. Mohamed Akbar, Assistant Professor of Communication and Media at AUK, the parliament candidates Safa Al Hashim, Adel Al Kharafi, Khaled Al Sultan, Khaled Al Salal, and Aroub Al Rifai shared their visions and approaches towards rescuing the political situation in Kuwait.

During her speech, the 3rd constituency parliament candidate, Safa Al Hashem, stressed on the importance of utilizing the potential of Kuwait's youth through micro financing and support of small projects. She also applauded the young people's interest in attending such discussion panels saying, "I am happiest when I see bright minds having a vision and a political goal toward a beautiful celebration of democracy". She concluded her speech by encouraging young people to continue participating actively in the political life and to make good choices in selecting their parliament representatives.

Taking the podium next, the 2nd constituency candidate Engineer Adel Al-Kharafi spoke about the political sensitivity of the coming period, through which people have to make conscious choices of who should represent them. Al Kharafi stressed on the role of Kuwait's youth to raise public awareness on the importance of political participation. Al Kharafi also urged young people to stick to freedom of opinion and to fight the spirit of frustration that has crept into young people's lives. At the end of his speech, Al Kharafi brought to stage two young Kuwaiti engineers who have left fingerprints at the global level, showing the ability of Kuwaiti youth to innovate.

From his side, former MP and 2nd constituency candidate Khalid Al-Sultan pointed out the positive and negative aspects of the previous parliament, considering that the last three years were full of political events and conflicts between the forces of corruption and reform. Again, Al Sultan stressed on the role of young Kuwaitis in shaping the political map in the coming period. He also endorsed the latest youth movements against corruption, media blackout, and obliteration of realities.

In his speech, candidate Khalid Al Salal, brought up the concept of national unity that was exposed to many challenges throughout history. According to Al Salal, the Iraqi invasion tried to take advantage of Kuwait's diversity to dissect people's national unity. But Kuwaitis, under danger, revealed their outstanding loyalty to their country and their unity in demand of return of legitimacy. Today, however, the concept of national unity has been compromised by many who do not realize the seriousness of this matter. Finalizing his speech, Al-Salal stressed on the criticality of the coming parliament, which should be up to the challenge of this period to save the country's future.

In consistency with the discussion on the political role of youth, Aroub Al Refai spoke about the importance of youth involvement in NGO's and voluntary work that support and monitor political activities in the country. In her opinion, the previous parliament failed, not only due to the lack of democratic ethics, but also due to the lack of social involvement and cooperation among the civil society.

About the idea of hosting this panel discussion, the President of MUNAUK, Khalid Al Mutawa, said they organized this event to provide an opportunity for Kuwaiti youth to talk with parliament candidates about the future of Kuwait. Al Mutawa commented on the event saying, "I would like to thank all candidates who participated in today's discussion. The purpose of our dialogue was to point out the most urgent political issues facing Kuwait today, focusing on the importance of making wise choices in the upcoming elections. From here came the title 'Rescuing a Nation', which reflects today's reality, a deteriorating political situation that needs rescue."

MUNAUK is a student organization that seeks to enhance leadership, communication, and debate skills among its participants. Through representing a variety of political positions in various inter-governmental organizations, a diverse student body will learn to negotiate and resolve socio-political issues and will assimilate their distinct academic backgrounds in their venture. MUNAUK strives to provide the younger generation with the tools to comprehend their international world in its past, present, and future.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 30th January 2012