Kuwaiti opposition opposes Gulf security pact

Kuwaiti opposition parties have indicated that they will oppose the controversial Gulf security pact, arguing that it violates freedoms guaranteed by Kuwait’s Constitution. The controversy revolves around a clause requiring the extradition of citizens on the basis of charges rather than a final judicial ruling. The Kuwaiti parliament will discuss and vote on the pact on 3 March.

The opposition Nahj movement called on Monday to organise a seminar next week in the Irada Square outside the parliament to protest against the security pact, joined by former parliamentarians, legislators and key opposition leaders. The majority of Kuwait’s political factions have issued statements expressing their opposition to the agreement, including one group that supports a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) confederation.

Kuwait’s Islamic Constitutional Movement, which follows the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a statement saying that: “the agreement contradicts with the state’s sovereignty and contains unclear provisions that are subject to multiple interpretations…This creates legitimate concerns regarding the agreement’s implementation.” The movement believes the pact favours political security over individual freedoms and public security.

Kuwait’s former head of parliament, Ahmad Al-Saadoun, described the pact as “catastrophic” and called “to unite all efforts to address and protect Kuwait and its people”.

Kuwait’s Shiite MP Khalil Saleh added that the pact “is not commensurate with the amount of freedoms in Kuwait and differs in spirit, shape and substance with the constitution,” calling on the Kuwaiti parliament to oppose it.

The opposition has been boycotting elections since September 2012 to oppose the government’s unilateral amendment of the electoral law that reduced the number of votes per person from four to one. Therefore, it has less representation during this term and so experts believe that despite the opposition, the Kuwaiti government has enough votes to approve the pact when voting starts in March.

Kuwait had refrained from entering into any security agreement since the GCC was founded in 1981 because the government sees a conflict between some of its articles and the judicial system and freedoms guaranteed by Kuwait’s Constitution.