Local News

Al-Yahaya inaugurates Qadsiya headquarters

Published Date: May 06, 2008
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff writer




KUWAIT: Second district candidate Abdullah Al-Yahaya inaugurated his election headquarters in Qadsiya yesterday. He mainly spoke about health issue in his first campaign speech.

Al-Yahaya addressed three pressing matters. The first was directed at the Parliament. "We have experienced the tribal and sectarian strife and if such coalitions continue to be formed, the government won't be able to stop it. Cutting down 25 election districts to simply five, was a great achievement. During this period, we saw great unity among all sects. We demand that this experience be repeated as the results were great," Al-Yahaya said.

The issue of reforms is a commonly debated topic, "If reform is a basic subject, then we can reach the desired goal. If a minister made an exception for a certain candidate, he will do the same with others. On what criteria can we punish him?" he asked.

Secondly, Al-Yahaya argued that the country needs the guidance of a stronger prime minister, "A strong prime minister will be able to choose ministers capable of taking responsibility. There are many issues that need to be solved," he noted.

He thoroughly examined the healthcare scenario in Kuwait, which is worsening, "For the past two years, we've heard that at least nine new health centers will be built. Till today we haven't seen any. The last public hospital was built in 1981, whereas the last private hospital opened a few months ago. Does this prove that the private sector is better than the government? How can the government only build a VIP hospital? The health care sector is deteriorating," Al-Yahaya pointed out.

Sending patients abroad for medical treatment was rife with problems and corruption. "The Minister of Health went to Turkey to open a new overseas office for medical treatment. The ministry has just closed its medical office which was operating in Germany. Patients always complained about its services. Now they want to stir up problems at the Turkish medical office," he added.

Al-Yahaya concluded by saying that that when His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah chooses a prime minister, the royal family should respect his decision. "Ministers should support and help the prime minister and advise him in case he commits a mistake. We respect His Highness the Amir," he said.