By Maryam Al-Woqayan
KUWAIT, March 31 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait is moving steadily towards prosperity, based on the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to honoring all needs of people with visual impairment towards growth, progress and active participation for development of their society.
Following the speech delivered by His Highness the Amir during his visit to the Kuwait Blind Association on March 26, state institutions now face a great responsibility to play an important role in supporting people with strong determination to challenge disabilities in various domains, especially educational, cultural, sports, social and recreational.
After His Highness the Amir’s instructiona to the relevant state institutions to support people with special needs, build the nation and supporting its path to progress and prosperity, their focus in the next stage will be to follow up on the issues of this group, provide their needs, support their activities, provide devices, machines and tools that would help them and provide appropriate job opportunities.
Media also play an important role in encouraging distinguished people with special needs through highlighting their success stories locally and regionally in various fields and their confrontation of challenges.
The State of Kuwait has achieved many accomplishments on an international level in supporting the rights of persons with special needs, based on its firm approach and keenness for persons with special needs at the legislative and executive levels, and ensuring the active participation of institutions and persons with special needs to empower and integrate them into society.
At an international level, in 1992, the United Nations designated December 3 as International Day for Persons with Disabilities to better understand disability issues and protecting the rights of persons with special needs, in addition to raising awareness to include them in the political, economic and cultural fields.
The electoral process in Kuwait witnessed developments in the parliamentary process, including the candidacy of three visually impaired persons in 1999, a blind candidate in 2013 and another one in 2023 and lastly Ayedh Al-Ajmi, who is deaf-mute and ran in the Fifth Constituency in the upcoming National Assembly elections, to be held on April 4 2024, before announcing his withdrawal.
Persons with special needs must overcome the difficulties of running for the National Assembly elections by providing electoral places equipped for people with special needs and raising awareness about their political rights, as well as the procedures provided to them for running and participating in the electoral process.
Constitutional expert and legal advisor at the Amiri Diwan, Dr. Adel Al-Tebtebai told KUNA that there is no article in the Constitution that prevents a person with disabilities from running in the National Assembly elections.
He added that Article 82 of the Constitution indicates that "the conditions that must be met by a member of the National Assembly are that he must be Kuwaiti by origin, be qualified as an elector, not less than 30 years of age on the day of the election and be able to read and write Arabic well." Regarding secret voting on resolutions and draft laws in the National Assembly for the deaf, Dr. Al-Tebtebai said that this could be done by raising hands, in writing or on a computer with the help of a sign language interpreter.
For his part, Kuwaiti sign language trainer and interpreter Bader Al-Dokhi expressed to KUNA his happiness that people with special needs are attempting to run for elections, hoping for their victory in the future.
As for the role played by the sign language interpreter in front of deaf voters in election campaigns, he said "this role falls on the candidate who must reach out to us to interpret his visions and present his electoral program, especially with regard to supporting the deaf and the special needs." He added "we have major responsibility to convey everything that is said to the deaf correctly and accurately as any error may have consequences for both sides." He continued that among the ethics of the interpreter is not to express his opinion on any topic related to the deaf during the election campaign and his role is limited to helping express opinion and advice if he is asked to do so.
Founder of the Kuwait Society for Hearing Disability, Hamad Al-Marri told KUNA that it is difficult for the deaf to read and write like their normal peers, saying a deaf person "cannot discuss issues during sessions, even in the presence of a sign language interpreter." He added that each disability has its own characteristics, learning style, tasks, skills and abilities." For his part, Vice-President of the World Federation of Deaf Football Jaber Al-Kandari, who is also a coach and expert in Kuwaiti sign language, told KUNA that attempts of deaf-mute people to run for the National Assembly elections is satisfactory and urges others to pay attention to potential and capabilities of this group. (end) mk.si