A Defeat for Racism in Kuwait: Safa Al Hashem Has Lost Her Parliamentary Seat!

“The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Kuwaiti people have proved they are against racism and fascism in their country. In the latest national elections which took place on 5 December 2020, they voted Safa (also spelled “Safa’a”) Al Hashem out of the Kuwaiti parliament. Safa Al Hashem has been one of the most racist and fascist politicians in Kuwait and the Middle East. She is widely hated and despised for her extreme racism and fascism; she is more merciless than Donald Trump.

Before she entered politics, Safa Al-Hashem was a civil servant and a businesswoman in Kuwait:

“Before entering politics, Al Hashem worked for the government in the Ministry of Higher Education. She later worked in various private companies being associated with PIC, PWC and the KIPCO Group. Al Hashem then started Advantage Consulting in partnership with KIPCO and Gulf One Investment Bank, Bahrain.” (Arab Times, "MP Profile Getting to know you", 23 August 2013. p. 2.)

Being a politician, Safa Al-Hashem is prepared to say or do anything to get elected or gain power. She has always directed her criticisms and racist remarks and demands against the expatriate workers in Kuwait and the Gulf region and also against the expat legal experts who work at the Council of Ministers, Civil Service Commission and other government departments. Last year, she caused an uproar for asking the Kuwaiti authorities to “impose taxes on the expatriate workers, even on the air they breathe”! (RT Online in Arabic, 15 September 2020). Have you ever heard such nonsense and cruelty against human beings anywhere in the world? And from whom? From a lawmaker in Kuwait-- an Arab and Muslim country that is supposed to have Muslim and human values and claims to be one of the liberal and democratic countries in the Middle East!

“But Hashem’s latest complaint was strongly criticized by some social media activists, who accused her of trying to exploit such incidents for electoral purposes. Well-known presenter and owner of the private Scope TV Fajer Al-Saeed said Hashem should stop such election stunts. The lawmaker said it was the ninth death threat she has received by email, all from expats belonging to one nationality. Although she did not reveal the nationality, she released the email, which refers to it.” (albawaba, “Kuwaiti MP Safa Al Hashem Receives 9th Death Threat for Wanting to Replace Foreign Workers” July 1st, 2020)

Safa Al-Hashem was so arrogant that she used to threaten even the Kuwaiti Ministers if they did not give orders to stop recruiting expatriate workers in their ministries:

“In response to warnings issued by lawmakers, the Union of Cooperative Societies has been ordered to stop hiring expatriate workers.

Earlier MP Safa’a Al-Hashem had apparently sent a warning to the Minister of Social Affairs, Saad Al-Kharraz, saying: “If I [come to] know that you are still opening the door for the recruitment of workers from a certain Arab country in the cooperative societies, I will file a grilling notion against you in parliament.”

On 15 September, the Minister of Social Affairs Saad Al-Kharraz had warned the Union of Cooperative Societies against hiring workers from an Arab country, and on 25 September the minister issued a decision to stop issuing work permits for migrant workers in cooperative societies and to implement the replacement policy.” (The Times, Kuwait, “Coops to stop hiring expatriates”, 29 September 2019)

Safa Al-Hashem’s stance against expatriate workers and experts did not bring about her downfall but also the downfall of all the female candidates for the Kuwaiti Parliament. The Kuwaiti public were overwhelmingly against all racist and fascist views and they were sensitive to the election of any female candidate because of Safa Al-Hashem:

 “Safa al-Hashem, Kuwait’s only female MP who has courted controversy over her anti-expat stance, lost her seat in the latest election that saw opposition candidates make gains.

Kuwait’s local elections, held last Saturday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saw opposition candidates make gains in the parliamentary vote in which two-thirds of incumbent MPs lost their seats and no women were elected.

The final count of the votes showed 31 new candidates had been elected to the 50-seat assembly as members of parliament.

This election saw 29 female candidates campaigning for seats, with none of them succeeding.

Al-Hashem, an MP who was elected to the 2012 and 2016 legislative terms of Kuwait’s National Assembly, made history in the 2016 election when she became the first woman to win in three parliamentary elections. She had previously been a part of the 2009 parliament before it was dissolved.

Al-Hashem, known for her anti-migrant stance, has courted controversy in the past year for calling on the government to send expatriates back to their home countries. She has also made negative comments toward the Egyptian expatriate community, which resulted in her receiving at least nine death threats.” (Al Arabiya English, Ismaeel Naar, “Safa al-Hashem, Kuwait’s controversial and only female MP, loses seat”, 8 December 2020)

The Gulf News confirmed that “Due to her unpopular racist and xenophobic public statements and rhetoric, she lost her seat after getting only 430 votes in 2020 compared to 3,273 in 2016.’’ ( Gulf News, “Safa first woman to win two consecutive times", 23 August 2013.)

 “Al Hashem is notorious for her populist comments against foreigners living in Kuwait, including recommending that foreigners should be banned from obtaining driving licenses and should be taxed to walk on the streets. She also called on the government to impose charges on expatriates for everything they do, including taxing the air they breathe in the country”. (The New Arab "Kuwait 'deported tens of thousands of expats' in 2016-2017", 24 October 2017)

According to Gulf Business, Safa Al-Hashem had submitted a proposal including a $3,300 fee for foreign workers to obtain driving licenses and a 10-year limit on their stay in the country, and to be charged for the air they breathe:

“Kuwait’s only female lawmaker has called for expats in the country to be charged “for the air they breathe” as the government pursues a study of a new taxation law, according to reports.

MP Safa Al-Hashem has drawn controversy in the past after submitting proposals including a $3,300 fee for foreign workers to obtain driving licences and a 10-year limit on their stay in the country.

Kuwait Times reported that she responded to the government tax proposal by calling for further measures against the country’s foreign population instead.

“Expatriates must be charged for everything, for medical services, infrastructure and again I say for the air they breathe here,” she was quoted as saying at a press conference following a meeting of a parliamentary committee tasked with finding jobs for Kuwaitis by replacing foreign workers.

The lawmaker added that taxation “will be applied on Kuwaitis only on my dead body”. (Gulf Business, Kuwait MP calls for foreign workers to be charged “for the air they breathe”, October 29, 2018)

“The curtain has fallen on the legislative elections in Kuwait. Preliminary results show that women gained no new seats in the new parliament and that the only female incumbent, Safa al-Hashem, failed to win re-election.

In 2005, the National Assembly gave women the right to vote and to run for office. Out of 15 women who ran in the 2016 election, only one, Safa al-Hashem, won a seat (she was first elected in 2012).

Women turned out to vote in large numbers in Kuwait’s parliamentary elections in many electoral districts. News websites and media covering the polling documented high female turnout in five districts.

It is clear that women — and not only men — have decided to exclude women from the assembly. This is a psychological indicator that greatly reflects the confidence of women in men as representing them in the assembly.”

Some pointed to the alleged failure of Hashem, which sparked a wave of mixed reactions.

Hashem was prominent for her populist, anti-expatriate rhetoric, demanding that expatriates not be granted licenses to drive cars and be compelled to pay taxes for walking on the streets.

Hashem ranked 30th, receiving only 430 votes, placing her behind new female candidate Sheikha Al-Jassim, who lost her bid as she ranked 25th.”

(The Arab Weekly, “Kuwaitis wonder why even the women voted for men”, Monday 07/12/2020)

Safa Al-Hashem’s defeat was a disaster for her personally and for all the racist and fascist voices in the Gulf countries. As all racist and fascist politicians and businessmen do, Safa Al-Hashem has threatened to take anyone writing against her to court. She mistakenly thinks that by such childish and stupid threats, she will stop people celebrating her downfall and writing about it:

“A day after Kuwait's only female MP lost her seat in national elections, Safa Al Hashem threatened legal action against detractors on social media.

Ms Al Hashem is a divisive figure in the vibrant Kuwaiti political scene, and had served in three national assemblies before losing in the December 5 poll. In a tweet on Monday, she lambasted social media users for sending her abuse online and said she had decided to take legal action.

Ms Al Hashem takes a tough line on immigration and repeatedly called on the government to send expatriates back to their home countries.

Last April, Ms Al Hashem tweeted her outrage at the number of expats in government positions, saying: "I said it before and I'm repeating it now: the internal invasion of expats in all the state apparatuses requires a revamping of the administrative structure." (The National, “Former Kuwaiti MP decries 'insults and slander' on social media after election loss”, December 8, 2020).

According to the BBC online, “There were 29 female candidates, but none secured a seat. This was a blow to female candidates after women won the right to vote 15 years ago.

Kuwait - which has a population of 4.8 million, including 3.4 million foreign workers - has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves and is a major US ally.

The emirate's parliament has the most powers of any elected body in the Gulf and opposition MPs openly criticise the ruling family, the Sabahs. However, they retain full control over key government and executive posts, and Kuwait's ruler, the emir, has the last say in political matters. He also has the power to override or dissolve parliament, and call elections.” (BBC, “Kuwait elections: Only female MP Safa al-Hashem loses seat”, 7 December 2020)

Racism is an infectious social disease that is really very dangerous anywhere in the world, especially when it comes from a public figure or a politician like Safa Al-Hashem. It can pass very easily and rapidly to other influential figures and politicians with very bad consequences for peace and stability in the country and in the region. Safa Al-Hashem’s racist views have already passed to other influential figures in Kuwait. One of them is Hayat Al-Fahad. She is a well-known Kuwaiti actress who has caused an uproar in the Gulf region because of her racist and fascist comments against the expatriate workers, especially those who are suffering from the COVID-19 disease. On 1 April 2020, she said, “expatriate workers should be expelled from the Gulf region because they are taking our money and getting rich at our expense. Those who are suffering from COVID-19 disease should not be treated in Kuwaiti hospitals and health facilities. These hospitals and facilities are to be kept exclusively for the treatment of Kuwaitis. Expatriate patients should be sent home and if you cannot send them home, throw them in the desert to die.”! (Al-Hura Website, 1 April 2020).

I still remember an official meeting with Abood Al-Sawafi (former VC) at A’Sharqiyah University in Oman. We were discussing the SWOT analysis for A’Sharqiyah University. We were all shocked and stunned when he described the expatriate professors and employees at A’Sharqiyah University and in Oman in general as a “threat” to the University and to Oman. Abood Al-Sawafi has exactly the same racist and fascist mentality as that of Hayat Al-Fahad and Safa Al-Hashem in Kuwait.

(For more details, the reader may refer to my article, “Stop This Racism and Fascism in GCC Countries!” published on April 2, 2020”)

Racism, fascism, nationalism, corruption, and wars are very strongly connected and interrelated. If you dig deep into the history of wars in the world, especially in the Middle East, you will find that almost all the wars and conflicts that have taken place in the past or are ranging now can be attributed to racism and other human evils. These wars were launched and are being launched by racist and fascist leaders and politicians who have exploited the feelings of “nationalism” in their countries to launch wars and bring about an unprecedented level of human misery. Most of them are also corrupt politicians who care only about their selfish interests to satisfy their sick egos. Hence the dangers of racist politicians. It is not just a simple matter of expatriates losing their jobs and returning to their home countries. The matter is bigger than this and goes beyond the borders of any small country like Kuwait.

The Middle East has long been regarded as one of the most troubled, dangerous, and turbulent regions in the world. There are too many wars, too many conflicts, too many destructive ideologies, too much killing, and too much human misery. Now we have too many racist politicians and governments!

The peoples of the Middle East like all the peoples of the world are not interested in wars and conflicts. They aspire to live a decent human life away from destruction and misery. It is really essential for peace and stability in the Middle East and the world that wicked and racist politicians and businessmen like Safa Al-Hashem and Abood Al-Sawafi be exposed and eliminated from public life before it is too late.

The Middle East is now in turmoil. Life is actually on hold in different areas of the region. There are big problems, tensions, and violent demonstrations in many countries because of the big gap between the politicians in these countries and the people they are supposed to represent and care for.  One of the main reasons for this big gap is that these politicians do not sincerely listen to their people; they are completely detached from reality and live in isolated “ivory towers”.

As we have said in other articles before, there are millions and millions of expatriate workers in the Middle East, especially in the GCC countries. They make up more than 80% of the workforce in most countries, and sometimes this percentage goes up to 90%.

In order to escape poverty and support their families back home, millions of expatriate workers from mainly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines migrate to the oil-rich countries in the Middle East to work hoping they will be treated as human beings in these new countries. You find expatriate workers everywhere and in every industry. They contribute in a very significant way to the economic and cultural development of the Middle East but unfortunately, they are deprived of their basic human rights and are treated like “slaves” in every sense of the word. It is really ungrateful and very disappointing for listeners and readers to hear and read racist comments from public figures and governments in a time of crisis that requires all human beings to help and support one another all over the globe.

What is required of the GCC governments and authorities is to denounce such comments and reassure the expatriate workers and their families of their commitments to international laws, conventions, and human, Islamic values. Hospitals and other health facilities should be open to all nationals and residents in the Gulf countries. Expatriate workers have been contributing a great deal to the building up and development of these countries. They should be treated as equal to the Gulf nationals, especially at this critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are to be financially supported and helped to return to their countries if they wish. They should be given all their human rights, including full and effective healthcare protection and treatment.

It is very disappointing and absolutely racist to see some governments in the GCC countries resorting to racism and making it an “official policy”! They have recently announced two sets of prices in their countries: one set for the nationals; another set for the expatriates. This is really repulsive and disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves.