An improved educational sector remains one of the most pressing public demands in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Just as November 26 was set for the snap parliamentary elections, the electoral scene has been bustling; candidates hurried to register and join the race, working hard on their manifestos and campaigns to win people to vote for them.

Voters, on the other hand, have been busing considering the urgent issues of prime importance for the majority of the people, that will need to be addressed by the mew parliament. They are examining the electoral programs, or manifestos to choose who can really represent them and defend their rights and gains in the Abdullah Al-Salem's Hall.

It is always been the case with every parliamentary poll, that voters in the five constituencies have disparate views regarding the priorities that will have to be on top of the agenda of the future legislature. However, they share the view on essential topics, namely housing, education, health and unemployment. These top the list of people's concerns, closely related to the present, and the future.

Still these same traditional issues and problems come on top of peoples interest, as they look forward to having MPs who enjoy a high sense of responsibility and capabilities to develop the efficacious solutions, Nasser Abdulaziz, an engineer at the Ministry of Electricity and Water said.

Promoting education takes over all other issues; it the real criteria of a society's development in all fields, Abdulaziz said. A nations progress and aspiration rely mainly on good education, especially in early stages, to guarantee a bright future for the country, Abdulaziz added.

Health care

Ahmad Al-Herz, also an engineer at the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), urged the potential MPs to concern themselves more with the issue of health care. For Herz, improving health services is a 'necessity' of high concern to citizens and expats.

The issue includes providing the state of the art medical equipment, and foreign efficiencies, which will be for the benefit of all, and in the meantime save the huge sums of money spent on treating patients abroad.

For Bader Al-Mashaan, a citizen, housing is an issue of high concern to many Kuwaitis; it is essential for the stability of a family. Mashaan hopes that voters will choose representatives who can fulfill their mission and play due role in handling the issues of the society.

Unemployment

Citizen Omar Al-Saidi said meanwhile that unemployment has to be paid utmost attention by the new legislatures, to rid the society of the hardest obstacle to youth aspiration. Unemployment is a chief cause of some youth deviation from the right path, and who could fall prey to drug-taking or even to commit crimes punishable by the law, he said.

Creating new jobs and investing youth free time in the best possible way for their own good and for the society, has to top off all priorities of new parliament. There is dire need for hard work to avoid the negative and social impact of joblessness, he noted.

According to a poll by the Secretariat of the former parliament, dissolved by an Amiri decree last month, housing topped the concern of the Kuwaiti people by 21 percent; promoting health services followed with 17 percent.  Developing education was third on the list with 13 percent, and citizens loans ranked fourth. Other topics included women, development, increasing wages, administrative reform, countering corruption, and traffic. The poll covered 10,551 people, out of 439,715 eligible voters, about 2.4 percent. - KUNA