We have recently read that the Shoura Council is to discuss the problem of "exorbitant dowries." If this is the trend, then we should not be surprised to find that the council has decided to hold a series of sessions to try and resolve the problems of unmarried women, fix the age at which people are allowed to marry and enact legislation specifying where in the city unmarried men should be allowed to live. I do not mean to suggest that these are matters unworthy of some debate and discussion. At the same time, I don’t want the council to find itself bogged down in endless debates on such relatively minor topics. After all, there are far more important matters for them to be concerned with.
Some of those matters include unemployment, Saudization, poverty and reviewing the state budget before it is endorsed by the Council of Ministers.
The matter of the budget is especially important. If it is debated by the Supreme Economic Council, why is it not also discussed by the Shoura? The council ought to be allowed to review government accounts and question the minister of finance if they wish to do so. Overspending by government departments should, for example, be a matter for questioning; in the 2002 budget, the limit for public spending was exceeded by a sum in excess of SR25 billion!
Many outdated laws and regulations are still in on the books and have been so for a long time. They need to be updated as they are no longer able to cope with the rapid changes taking place around us. Some of the laws are so antiquated that we have reached the stage where the exception is the rule and vice versa. We need new guidelines and laws dealing with insurance, traffic courts, the privatization of some services and overhauling the education system. These are some of the many issues more important than discussing dowries, unmarried women or the charges for renting wedding halls.
Arab News From the Local Press 8 January 2003
