No place for Lions Club in Kuwait, MP says
Mohammad Al Hayef: No role whatsoever for Lions Club in Kuwait
A Kuwaiti political activist has challenged a lawmaker who had accused her of promoting freemasonry in the country to an open debate in the presence of the media.
MP Mohammad Al Hayef on Thursday charged Najla Al Naqi of helping facilitate the establishment of a Lions Club in Kuwait after she hosted the general coordinator of the clubs in the Middle East to deliver a speech at her weekly diwaniya (gathering).
Lions Clubs International, an organisation that says it aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and global scale, has over 45,000 clubs and more than 1.3 million members in 203 countries around the world, but not in Kuwait, where it is seen as associated with freemasonry.
“I invite all those who have criticised me for hosting the meeting to meet with Citizen Najla Al Naqi in the presence of the press and the media. They can choose the time and the place and I will be there to explain matters and debate viewpoints within a composed and serene discussion. Dialogues should replace stabbing and making vitriolic accusations. After all, what matters most to us is preserving the high interest of Kuwait and ensuring that the country is spared more woes,” she said.
Al Hayef, a conservative lawmaker, blasted Al Naqi for allowing Majdi Azib to speak at her forum and urged the interior ministry to “launch a probe into the event and to ask for accounts from those behind it”.
“We are totally against hosting such terrorist organisations in Kuwait. The Lions Club is a terrorist Masonic organisation under the disguise of charitable and social activities,” Al Hayef said. “This club has secret schemes and is keen on destroying religion, undermining morality and on promoting vice. There will be no tolerance whatsoever towards this and similar organisations in Kuwait and we demand that the interior ministry investigate the whole matter and find out who is encouraging them to infiltrate the Kuwaiti society,” he said.
However, Al Naqi refused Al Hayef’s attacks, saying that she did not seek to promote the club or to help it enter Kuwait.
“Nobody can doubt my patriotism or allegiance to Kuwait. I have never called for the opening of a Lions Club in Kuwait and all I said was that we will look into the possibility of having a club. It was just a matter of courtesy towards our guest,” she said.
