Celebrating a golden jubilee Kuwait style: Gulf state spends £10million to put on the biggest firework display of all time

PUBLISHED: 02:12 GMT, 11 November 2012 | UPDATED: 08:09 GMT, 12 November 2012

For the paltry sum of just £10million Kuwait earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records last night as it celebrated the golden jubilee anniversary of its constitution in style by laying on the biggest fireworks display of all time.

A dazzling array of colours illuminated the skies above the country's capital of Kuwait City as a staggering 77,282 fireworks were launched over the period of an hour.

A representative of Guinness World Records announced the achievement on Kuwait television at the end of the display which had been watched by tens of thousands of Kuwaitis and expatriates on the Arabian Gulf Road by the sea.

The visual presentation marked 50 years to the day since the late emir Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah announced that Kuwait had become the first Arab state in the Gulf to issue a constitution and have a parliament.

Before the festivities Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah pledged the government's continuing commitment to democracy and made a plea for national unity as the wealthy Gulf state struggles with a political crisis.

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Exploding fireworks illuminate the sky over Kuwait City, Kuwait, last night, during celebrations on the occasion of the 50th Constitution Day jubilee

The firework show which lasted for an hour was the largest of its kinds in the world and cost a reported £10million

A dazzling array of colours illuminated the skies above the country's capital of Kuwait City as a staggering 77,282 fireworks were launched over the period of an hour

A representative of Guinness World Records announced that the display was the biggest of all time on Kuwait television at the end of the display which had been watched by tens of thousands of Kuwaitis and expatriates on the Arabian Gulf Road by the sea

In the past 50 years parliament has been dissolved on nine occasions, while some articles of the constitution itself were frozen twice to suspend parliament for a total of 11 years in the 1970s and 1980s.

Last night's celebration came as the government and opposition are locked in one of the worst standoffs in the country's history, with the opposition accusing the government of staging a coup against the constitution.

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More than 150 people and 24 policemen suffered minor injuries during three massive demonstrations held by the opposition to protest against the amendment of the electoral law ordered by the emir last month.

The opposition claims the amendment is in breach of the constitution and allows the government to influence the outcome of parliamentary polls due on December 1. It insists that the emir must repeal the amendment.

The opposition is marking the constitution anniversary with a huge rally in Kuwait City on Sunday.

The visual presentation marked 50 years to the day since the late emir Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah announced that Kuwait had become the first Arab state in the Gulf to issue a constitution

Thousands of people gather to watch fireworks and dramatic laser display which lights the sky near the Kuwait Towers

Revelers wave Kuwaiti flags in the foreground as the fireworks burst above the Persian Gulf

Locals flocked to the beach to witness the incredible display, many recording it on their mobile phones

A youngsters climbs on a broad pair of shoulders to get a better view of the spectacular display

Last night's celebration came as the government and opposition are locked in one of the worst standoffs in the country's history, with the opposition accusing the government of staging a coup against the constitution

This dramatic image captures the moment some of the thousands of fireworks gave the night sky an orange hue

Before the festivities Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah pledged the government's continuing commitment to democracy

Bright white fireworks light up the high rise buildings in the capital of the oil-rich state

Purple and red fireworks light up the skyline above Kuwait

Tamohara dasa says;

While i lived in Kuwait in 1998, it was quite the experience. People there are very nice, friendly, mild, educated , and submissive to the totalitarian state around them. When you walk a distance, cars will stop just to give you a ride. They love the Weterners generally, but find us mysterious and uncouth.

We were all given brand new Toyotas to drive, and i toured the whole countryside. Gas is 6 cents a litre. The roads have drifts of sand across them, like we do here in Manitoba, but snow! So the highways are criss-crossed with sandy red drifts.

One major feature in the flat south area is a plateau , middle of nowhere on the road south to the United Arab Emirates; on top, a McDonald's! They do serve veggie burgers there.

Therre are no speed limits o speak of. The world's highest car accident rate is in Kuwait. City blocks are about ten of our blocks long, so there are long stretches with no lights, and this makes getting around relatively easy. All wrecked cars, new ones seen daily, are parked on the boulevards by the police in order to remind people what can happen. I used to drive 160 k per hour in order to keep ahead of the crazy Kuwaiti drivers. It was much safer than driving with them, as they jockey for position like they were on camels! I saw many oil wells, the place where the Iraqi column was shot up, and heard many stories of the invasion which occurred just a couple years before I was working there.

Apparently, one of the horrors including rape and murder, one body had somehow landed on a live wire and there was a charred corpse seen overhead for weeks. The Iraqis committed many atrocities, for which some were shot by their own army. They hauled away couches, TV's computors, kitchen sinks on their way out.

For example, Iraq is quite backwards, and when they came to the big banks in Kuwait, one general saw the many computor terminals and said, "What is the matter with these people! Don't they have anything better to do at work then sit and watch TV all day?"

Every after the invasion, the children of Kuwait who did not suffer colds etc suddenly have got colds, flu, attention deficits disorders, learning disabilities, etc. Could it be the petroleum pollution from all the wells set on fire, or imported poisonned foods from America?

The King divorces one wife every Sunday, and marries a new one every Friday. He has literally thousands of such"wives", and send money to their families for the wives, thus solidifying his control and ownership of the country.

One day, a reporter wrote how Prince Abdullah had stolen millions in a scammy deal with the USA over missile. Three days later, the reporter was found shot dead in his car.

Nothing happens in Kuwait unless the royals approve of it. Our hospital equipment was put on permanent hold when the in charge audiologist refused to get equipment from the royal approved provider. Instead, we got nothing. The kick-back program totally dominates; Kuwait is 100% corrupt, and an ally of the USA, despite being despotic dictators who throw money around like it is water, or oil.

Imported workers there are kept like slaves. They beg money by the roadside, despite working, as they are not paid but treated like animals. Hinduism is forbidden on death threat. There is one Krsna temple, well hidden and tolerated by the authorities there. Devotees can fly in and walk away with tens of thousands of dollars donations if they know Hindus living there .

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