|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
|
| Kuwait marks Constitution's 46th anniversary |  |  |  |
| Written by Admin | | Tuesday, 11 November 2008 | Published Date: November 11, 2008 KUWAIT: Kuwait today marks the 46th anniversary of the introduction of its constitution, which occurred during the reign of Kuwait's 11th ruler, the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, fondly known as the Father of the Constitution.
In his speech to Kuwaiti citizens on November 11, 1962, Sheikh Abdullah thanked Almighty Allah for the historic period in which the people achieved the dream of having a constitution based on democratic principles, commensurate with the traditions and aspirations of the nation.
Kuwaitis elected the Constituent Assembly in January 1962, tasked with placing a constitution that regulates authorities and freedoms in the country. The assembly was chaired by Abdullatif Thunayyan Al-Ghanim, with Dr. Ahmad Al-Khateeb in the vice chairman's post.
In his inaugural speech to the Constituent Assembly, Sheikh Abdullah
Al-Salem called for unity in order to best serve the interests of the country and its people, adding that this assembly would bear the burden of laying the foundation of Kuwait's future.
A five-member committee was formed to oversee this drafting of the constitution, comprising Al-Khateeb himself, the then-interior minister Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Al-Ghanim, then Justice Minister Homoud Al-Zaid Al-Khalid, and member of the assembly Saud Abdulaziz Al-Abdulrazzaq.
The committee held a total of 23 meetings, the first on March 17 1962 and the last on October 27 1962, and the draft constitution was presented by Al-Ghanim to Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem at Seif Palace on November 8, 1962. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem ratified the constitution three days later, on November 11 1962, and 72 days later, on January 23 1963, Kuwait's first parliamentary elections were held.
The Kuwaiti constitution is composed of 183 articles and divided into five parts; The State and the System of Government, Fundamental Constituents of Kuwaiti Society, Public Rights and Duties, Powers, and General and Transitional Provisions. On Feb 10, 1980, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah formed a committee of 35 members to amend the constitution.
The committee held its first meetings on February 19, 1980 in the presence of the late Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah who called the committee members to preserve the constitution's main principles.
The committee concluded its work on June 22, 1980, after meeting for 18 weeks.
During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the constitution united all Kuwaitis inside the state and abroad. Kuwaitis gathering in Jeddah in October 1990 announced their full compliance with the constitution and their loyalty to the legitimate rulers of the nation, the Al-Sabahs, which helped to keep the Kuwaiti people's spirits strong until the liberation of the country in February 1991. - KUNA |
| Obama to see Oval office for first time | | | |
| Written by Admin | | Tuesday, 11 November 2008 | WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama lays eyes on the White House's Oval Office for the first time yesterday in the formal start of America's intricate minuet of transition from one president to the next. President George W Bush will guide his successor into the historic chambers where the 43rd and 44th US presidents will talk privately about the challenges of leading a nation freighted in this handover of power by a severe economic downturn and two wars. The country's troubles fall to Obama when he t
akes office Jan 20.
Bush, who had endorsed Republican John McCain, lauded Obama's victory as a "triumph of the American story", as he issued a warm invitation for the next president and his wife, Michelle, to their future home. Obama will be the country's first black president and takes office with fellow Democrats firmly in control of the White House and both houses of Congress. "I'm going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship, and a sense that both the president and various leaders of Congress all recognize the sev
erity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done," Obama said last week when asked about his meeting with Bush.
Obama won the presidency in an electoral landslide last week after running a campaign in which he relentlessly linked McCain to the unpopular Bush and what the president-elect called Bush's failed policies. The tone changed almost immediately after Obama's win. Bush, who had endorsed McCain, lauded Obama's historic victory, and Obama, in turn, thanked Bush for being gracious. The president-elect has emphasized there is just one US president for now, and that is Bush.
Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, said Bush and Obama will be the only ones in the room when they meet. "I'm sure each of them will have a list of issues to go down," Bolten said, interviewed on C-SPAN by reporters from AP and The Washington Post. "But I think that's something very personal to both of them. I know the president will want to convey to President-elect Obama his sense of how to deal with some of the most important issues of the day. But exactly how he does that, I don't know, and I don't th
ink anybody will know.
Obama and wife, Michelle, were set to arrive at the White House yesterday afternoon. Bush and first lady Laura Bush will greet them. In a bit of pageantry for the cameras, the president and president-elect are to walk along the Colonnade and into the Oval Office. Obama started his day in Chicago, dropping his two daughters at school, each with a kiss, and then going to a gym for a workout.
Mrs Bush and Mrs Obama will meet privately, too. Unlike the incoming president, Bush knew his way around the Oval Office by the time he was elected in 2000 - his father had been president. Still, like many before them, President Bill Clinton and President-elect Bush had their own private meeting, keeping up a tradition that temporarily puts the presidency above politics. Obama has been to the White House before, including an emergency leadership session to deal with the financial crisis in September.
But an Obama spokeswoman said the president-elect has never been in the Oval Office. Once he sits behind the desk, the 44th president is expected to use his executive powers to reverse Bush administration policies on stem cell research, oil exploration and other issues.
John Podesta, who's handling Obama's preparations to take over in the White House on Jan 20, said on Sunday that Obama was reviewing Bush's executive orders on those and other issues as he prepares to put his own stamp on policy after eight years of Republican rule. "There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need
to get off the course that the Bush administration has set.
Use of executive authority is the quickest way for a new president to exert his power, given that passage of new laws by Congress can be a painfully slow process, even when the chief executive enjoys a legislative majority. Podesta pointed specifically to two particularly controversial Bush executive orders as candidates for reversal. "I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even today moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably
not in the interest of the country," Podesta said.
Obama has supported stem cell research in an effort to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. Also, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling, leading to protests from environmentalists. "They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah," Podesta said. "I think that's a mistake." Speaking on Fox television, Podesta said Obama was working to build a diverse Cabinet likely to include Re
publicans and independents - part of the broad coalition that supported Obama during the race against McCain. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover. - AP |
|
|
|
|
