Top-down fight against corruption leaves Saudis wondering
who will ‘watch the watchdogs’
Saad A Sowayan

On 19 February the Saudi Council of Ministers approved the draft of a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Interior entitled ‘National Strategy for the Promotion of Honesty and the Combating of Corruption’. The proposal had initially been put forward by the Shura Council. At its meeting, the Council of Ministers recommended the establishment of a national committee for this purpose, giving it the title: ‘The National Committee for the Promotion of Honesty and the Combating of Corruption’.

Among the tasks of this committee is that of devising ways and means of putting this new strategy into practice, as well as following up and monitoring its implementation and evaluating the results. All government agencies were urged to speed up and improve their services in compliance with this new direction of government reform.

This new strategy comes as part of the broader reform package initiated by King Abdullah. It is also part of the recent effort by the kingdom to encourage foreign investors, and to improve the competitive edge of local economy in preparation for full membership in World Trade Organization. It is a strategy that is meant to advance the public interest, protect national wealth and public property, and eradicate the many bureaucratic flaws which have become widespread in all branches of the government and public sector, and which range from inefficiency, tardiness, backlogging, negligence, kickbacks, nepotism, to the abuse and misuse of power, illicit dealings and favoritism in offering government contracts.

It was pointed during deliberations that no official – no matter how high his rank – will be immune from inquiry. This is an indication of the government’s seriousness in taking this step. It is reported that the chairman of the new National Committee will be given the rank of minister and will report directly to the king. Some local websites have already started nominating their favourites for this position, among them Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz and Dr. Ghazi al-Gusaybi.

More of the same?

For much of the past week the strategy has been debated and commented on in the press and on TV. Reactions have ranged from the positive to the dismissive, the varying views generally depending on whether the discussion is in private or in public, whether the person is using his real name or pseudonym, whether he is a Saudi or an outsider, or an immigrant calling from a safe haven somewhere in Europe.

Some Saudis expressed optimism and faith in the new plans, seeing this new strategy as another forward step towards modernization and the improvement of the government’s performance and services. The very fact of admitting that we have corruption and that is something in need of being confronted is a good sign in itself. This is a big first step towards correcting the situation….

This essay appears at Saudi Debate. It asks good questions and notes that the general Saudi public is asking them as well. Sowayan cites the popularity of call-in TV programs in the country and that ‘As many as 95% of Arab callers to the programme thought the kingdom was “beyond repair.”’ He also correctly notes that many of these calls are based on failed philosophies of the past—Nasserism, Ba’athism, communism—but they’re out there nevertheless.

He also notes that there are different strains of calls for reform running through the country, sometimes cutting across each other. He says, ‘While people in business and real estate are pressing for judicial reform, the intelligentsia is calling for academic freedom and freedom of speech, along with freedom of choice.’ These demands run into narrow-minded religious interpretations of ‘the way things should be’ and make efforts at reform very difficult within the society itself.

Do read the whole thing.