Between Dreams and Nightmares

It is the people’s right to criticize and their duty to monitor the government’s performance, but it is unjust to reduce an entire phase to one or two cases while obscuring dozens of files that have witnessed genuine reform, leaving them outside the scope of evaluation or praise. For decades, since the 1980s and 1990s and until just a few years ago, Kuwait lived under a reality where corruption was deeply entrenched in the state’s and society’s fabric. Worse than corruption itself was its transformation over time into a culture where intermediation became a social obligation, and circumventing the law became a normal behavior, while those who rejected intermediation were blamed and socially stigmatized. These practices accumulated until the scales were overturned: respect for the law became the exception, and circumventing it became a skill praised by many, so that the law was applied only to the weak. Today, regardless of our differences over certain decisions, we cannot deny that a different trajectory is taking shape: new laws are being enacted, legislation is closing doors that were exploited for decades, and there are clear efforts to combat corruption and serious attempts to restore the authority of the law and reduce the influence of intermediation and nepotism. Have the problems ended? Certainly not. Are all decisions correct? Of course not. But is it fair to ignore all of this because one or two cases dominate public attention? That is where the problem lies. Public opinion is naturally drawn to the most sensational issues, which is understandable, but the danger lies in this preoccupation turning into a state of blindness toward the rest of the landscape. It is just to criticize mistakes, but it is also just to acknowledge achievements. If some view certain cases as nightmares, many dreams have come true. Abdullah Al-Mufarraj