KUWAIT: Independent MP Nabil Al-Fadhl said yesterday he has submitted
a petition to the constitutional court challenging an article in the
constitution that bars non-Muslims from being naturalized. The lawmaker
said that he considers this move as a Christmas gift for “our Christian
brothers”. The petition challenges an article that was added to the
constitution by Islamist and conservative MPs in 1981 to ban granting
Kuwaiti citizenship to non-Muslims. That amendment to the 1959
nationality law stipulates a set of conditions for those who can be
granted Kuwaiti citizenship, ans one of them is to be a Muslim.
Fadhl said he chose to appeal against that constitutional amendment
in the constitutional court, the highest court in the country and whose
rulings are final, and not through the National Assembly because “he did
not want to embarrass my colleagues and enter into a dispute of
personal views”. If the challenge is accepted, it will allow non-Muslims
to become Kuwaiti citizens. But if rejected, the status quo will be
maintained.
Fadhl is not a member of any political party but he is an
independent, sometimes pro-government, liberal-secular lawmaker who
became a member of parliament in July last year. He however was elected
twice before but both assemblies were scrapped by the constitutional
court. The lawmaker said the article that bans non-Muslims from becoming
Kuwaitis is a “stigma on the Kuwaiti constitution and laws”, adding
that those who added it to the constitution in 1981 do not deserve to
become members of parliament who took the oath to respect the
constitution and laws. He also stressed that the presence of the article
in the Kuwaiti constitution defies the morals of the Kuwaiti people and
their principles.
The Kuwaiti population of 1.27 million is predominantly Muslim, with a
Sunni majority and Shiite minority. But there are around 200-250
Kuwaiti Christians who were naturalized before the introduction of that
article. Most of them hail from Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. The
constitutional court is not expected to rule on the case before several
months. It has to be seen first whether the court will accept the
challenge or not, and whether it will agree to rule on an issue related
to citizenship.
By B Izzak
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