Nancy Ajram strikes again! Her (or people like her) victim this time? Kuwait's Minister of Information Mohammed Abu al Hassan, who stepped down in advance of Parliamentary hearings over his allowing "immoral" concerts in the country. (Complicating the politics here, Abu al Hassan was the only Shi'ite in Kuwait's 18 member Cabinet, which is what Al Quds Al Arabi chooses to highlight in its headline.)
Islamists had been attacking Abu al Hassan for months, ever since he approved a "Star Academy" concert seven months ago (Star Academy is an extremely popular "American Idol"-type contest on LBC). Several Islamist Members of Parliament had made banning these kinds of concerts an election campaign promise, according to al Hayat, and the issue then snowballed out of control. He was set to testify before a Parliamentary hearing spearheaded by those Islamists today, and decided to submit his resignation instead.
The Kuwaiti pro-American conservative columnist Ahmed al Rubi'i describes this as a great tragedy, and a dangerous sign of Islamist ascendence over the voices of reason. And Abd al Rahman al Rashed interprets the resignation as a major blow against democracy: "Mohammed Abu al Hassan was known as one of the most conservative Kuwaiti Ministers of Information, but this did not prevent him from leaving the victim of the demands of Islamist conservatives in the Parliament, injured dozens of times, which in democracy can be the harshest instrument of repressing freedoms. What is the value of democracy if a representative of the people decides to protect the people from their right to choose... even intervening in television programming?"
So, in the great Nancy Ajram wars, al Rashed aligns himself with the sultry singers (and me, for what that's worth) against the religious conservatives - Bush backers, take note!
UPDATE: I realized that this was poorly articulated: it isn't that the Nancy Ajram's of the world won a victory here - quite the contrary. I just meant that Abu al Hassan was another casualty in the ongoing Nancy Ajram culture wars. Sorry for the confusion - my fault!
Funny. I'll be checking the lively Kuwaiti blogosphere to see what people think.
http://www.kuwaitblogs.com/
Posted by: praktike | January 03, 2005 at 12:39 PM
Here goes:
http://zaydoun.blogspot.com/2005/01/and-not-minute-too-soon.html#comments
Lots of squiggly lines that I can't read yet.
Posted by: praktike | January 03, 2005 at 12:45 PM
I don't understand : Abu al Hassan is praised of being "one of the most conservative Kuwaiti ministers of Information" and he is forced to resign by sunni conservative membres of the Parliament ? I gave a feedback in French on my blog by making a link to our "Buttiglione"-case at the European Parliament (and Commission). He was forced to give up his new job as EU Commissionner for being too conservative (comments on homosexual and women) during the hearing procedures.
Do you have a link for Kuwaiti political parties ?
Posted by: mehmet | January 05, 2005 at 12:41 AM
Tuesday 4 January:
Kuwait City. Anti-Islamists strike back. Kuwaiti Member of Parliament Jamal al-Omar demands the investigation of Justice Minister Ahmed Yacoub Baqer for constitutional violations and financial irregularities. Al-Omar accuses Baqer, a member of the Islamic Salafist Alliance, of permitting government investment in a pork processing plant and of accepting interest payments, both forbidden by Sharia Law. The investigation could lead to a vote of no-confidence in the Justice Minister and his resignation.
The accusation is thought to have been made in retaliation for the resignation of Kuwaiti Information Minister Mohammed Abu al Hassan under pressure from Islamists who disagreed with his authorization of pop concerts.
L'Orient le Jour.
Posted by: Nur al-Cubicle | January 05, 2005 at 12:51 AM