Muslim Al-Barrak's ambitions are dashed with his inability to rally the Kuwaiti opposition behind him

The former deputy praises the opposition of the diaspora and attacks the opposition inside.

Leadership illusion

During his announcement of a "reform" project, former Kuwaiti MP Musallam Al-Barrak criticized the opposition, which he divided into oppositions. Observers believe that Al-Barrak's escalatory stance stems from his sense of betrayal, as he had dreams since his arrival in Kuwait, returning from exile to lead the scene in the absence of prominent opponents.

The controversial Kuwaiti dissident, Musallam al-Barrak, failed to mobilize the parliamentary opposition around a project that aims, according to him, to “save the country and fix the situation.”

Observers believe that many reasons contributed to this failure, including the divisions that afflict the ranks of the opposition, and the absence of consensus among them on the objectives to be implemented, as well as the refusal of a number of them to be “pawns” or just a number in the Barak project, which is not devoid of personal ambitions. According to some.

Al-Barrak returned last November to Kuwait after years of exile in Turkey, and this return followed an Amiri pardon and a group of former MPs who had been sentenced to prison terms for attempting to storm the National Assembly in 2011.

Since his arrival in Kuwait, the former MP has shown ambition to lead the opposition by inviting the opposition deputies to a meeting to agree on a targeted roadmap for the next stage.

Political circles close to the government at the time accused Al-Barrak of seeking to settle personal accounts with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim. For his initiative to gather the opposition in one project.

Mubarak Al-Walan: I support the slogan of the departure of the two presidents, but we do not want to tickle feelings

Al-Barrak was supposed to hold a meeting with the opposition deputies last Monday, but most of them did not accept the invitation. Later, Al-Barrak revealed some of the motives that prevented this, including the presence of some deputies’ reservations about the meeting’s axes, and others were precautions about the presence of certain personalities, while deputies refused Attendance due to lack of prior coordination with them.

In what seemed to be a refusal to admit failure, Al-Barrak decided to go ahead with the announcement of his project, which he describes as “reformist” by holding a press conference on Tuesday, attended by only eleven deputies: Saleh Al-Shallahi, Osama Al-Shaheen, Abdulaziz Al-Saq’abi, Hamad Al-Matar, Badr Al-Humaidi, Muhammad Al-Huwailah, Saud Bouslaib, Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf, Abdullah Jassim Al-Mudhaf, Ahmed Mutee, and Abdul Karim Al-Kandari.

A number of activists and former MPs who were included in the Amiri pardon, including Mubarak Al-Waalan, who held the meeting in his office, also participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, Al-Barrak drew a series of criticisms of the opposition, which he divided between the diaspora opposition and the internal opposition. The former MP said, “The honorable diasporas (he and those with him) come above all their concerns, while there are those who are looking for profit,” accusing some deputies of “they have no willingness to transcend their differences.” They do not want to meet,” and put their personal interests above the interests of the nation.

He added that "there are those who conspired to invite us to the meeting, which aims to gather the word and unite the ranks... and that there are two contradictory parties who consider themselves blocs and are different in everything and agree to sabotage the national opposition meeting."

Al-Barrak described the slogan of the departure of the two presidents (the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister) as “a failure” and a mere “political electoral speech that did not achieve anything for the Kuwaiti people.”

Regarding his project, Al-Barrak said that it includes seven axes that “address the current situation according to a specific timetable” and focus on developing political action, enhancing transparency, combating corruption and the independence of the judiciary, stressing that he will not back down from his reform project.

For his part, former MP Mubarak Al-Waalan announced that the project they are putting forward relates to “the interest of a country and the future of generations,” and is not intended to achieve personal gains.

Al-Walan explained, “I support the slogan of the departure of the two presidents, but we do not want to tickle feelings. We know the shortcomings, and Kuwait needs something tangible, and we presented this project as something tangible, and we do not want to laugh at people.”

Since the arrival of Musallam Al-Barrak to Kuwait, the former MP has shown ambition in leading the opposition front by inviting the opposition MPs to meet to agree on a targeted roadmap for the next stage.

During the meeting, opposition activist Muhammad Al-Blaihis presented the outlines included in the project, which are “the development of political action and freedoms and laws to enhance transparency, combat corruption, regulate the independence of the judiciary, economic reform, services and the Bedoon,” in addition to completing the file of amnesty for opinion-holders and the return of the withdrawn nationalities.

In order to “develop political work in Kuwait,” Al-Balihais said, the opposition proposes issuing “a law regulating political groups, amending the system of internal regulations, voting publicly for the presidency of the Council and abolishing the priorities committee.”

Observers believe that the various opposition forces in Kuwait do not oppose the items proposed in the project announced by Al-Barrak and the group supporting it, but the problem lies in the difference over priorities.

In addition to the difference over agendas, observers refer to the personal accounts that govern the positions of a large part of the Kuwaiti opposition, which has resulted in the emergence of fragmented oppositions. There is today the opposition from the diaspora, and the opposition from within, which in turn is divided into two parts, one of which is radical and the other does not mind cooperating with the government.

Observers consider that one of the main reasons that prevented Al-Barrak from mobilizing opponents behind him is that he revealed early ambitions to lead the opposition front, while part of it believes that it is more appropriate, and that it is time for Barak to step down, as every “time of his men.”

Observers say that this dispersion experienced by the Kuwaiti opposition today serves primarily the government and its efforts to pass bills that have become urgent to address economic challenges, including the draft public debt law.