November 11, 1962, in Memory

A Space for Time

Sixty-four years later, we commemorate on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, the eternal anniversary of the promulgation of the Kuwaiti Constitution on November 11, 1962. On that day, the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, may God have mercy on him, signed the document of political and national sovereignty for the State of Kuwait, completing the journey of independence declared on June 19, 1961. Thereafter, the path led to the announcement of the call for elections for the first legislative council in the era of independence in 1963, in accordance with the 1962 Constitution, which granted every Kuwaiti holding Kuwaiti nationality by origin the right to vote and run for the Council.

This eternal historical anniversary returns to us in November 2026, following the reaffirmation of the importance of returning to correct the political course and emphasizing the principles of true democracy stipulated in the Constitution’s articles regarding candidacy and elections in 1963.

Therefore, we state that the amendments to the provisions and articles of Emiri Decree No. 15 of 1959 concerning the Nationality Law, aimed at protecting the sovereign national identity, have returned after 67 years to realize the dream of the sons and generations of Kuwait, a dream enjoyed by their fathers and grandfathers in the first National Assembly elections in 1963.

From this point, we affirm that November 11, 1962, will remain etched in memory after the exposure of all manipulation and tampering that affected Kuwait’s national identity and caused the political regression of the democratic parliament’s role over the years. This is confirmed by the minutes of successive National Assemblies following the October 1996 elections and those that followed, when political chaos and turmoil, through practices that insulted the Abdullah Al-Salem Hall and its national and developmental role in developing the democratic approach after liberation, took place. We do not wish to reopen wounds, scenes, or practices that exceeded the bounds of political debate etiquette during those lean years that passed through the hall of the Constitution and democracy.

It suffices to mention the night and day of the "Black Wednesday," when protesters stormed the National Assembly, and the Abdullah Al-Salem Hall was subjected to harassment, causing destruction within it and undermining the spirit of democracy.

To forget all those events and practices, we say that the anniversary of November 11, 2026, marking the promulgation of the 1962 Constitution, remains the "lighthouse" that illuminates our future and the future of our generations, ensuring the stability of Kuwait and its people, and guiding us toward the "port" of safety when men who bear and shoulder the responsibility of democracy and the correction of the legislative, political, and executive courses rely on the pillars of the conclusive national document and its origins, just as their grandfathers and fathers carried and preserved them in 1963.

Therefore, the anniversary of November 11 will remain eternal this year and every year.

O God, protect Kuwait, its wise leadership, and its people from all harm and evil.

A Kuwaiti Writer