by Reem Abdullah (GUST student)

Ahmad Al-Dawas is an activist in political issues in Kuwait who hopes to replace “wasta” with merit. The only way to bring change into the system is by young people voting. Through his work with locals, Al-Dawas sensed that older people are harder to change.

The wasta (influence) culture is deeply ingrained in Kuwait society. Replacing it with a system based on merit is necessary for Kuwait to compete in a global economy.

“Kuwait voice” locally known as “Sawt Al-Kuwait” was the start of Ahmad’s involvement in this field. Sawt Al-Kuwait was a group aiming to raise awareness about the importance of voting in the parliament elections. His motivation to become a member of the group was the urge he felt to change the overall situation instead of complaining about it.

“We found ourselves in a situation where we need to explain the basics to people, and so we did” said Al-Dawas.

He hopes to continue his work by creating a program for college students to educate them about the importance of voting and the role young people play in replacing wasta with merit and creating a healthier system. Al-Dawas said that college is the stage in life where people build their personalities and are more willing to adopt new ideas and he hopes to start his work from there.

“We did make a small change. Voting rates went up by 2%. But I was convinced too; we should fix the base in order to fix the pyramid” said Al-Dawas