Senior government officials like to know how the public views their performance and prefer this to take place face to face, not through intermediaries.
They like to see people expressing their true feelings freely and without fear or pressure. This does not always happen, for what is being done without the knowledge of these officials tells a different story.
Officials attending open functions expect to see people asking direct questions. Instead, the organizers of the occasion prepare the text of the questions to be asked and select certain individuals to read them.
Neither the guest nor anyone else has asked them to behave like this. They volunteer to do it. It is inconceivable that a prince or senior official would request that only carefully selected questions were asked.
These simple-minded individuals who knowingly or unknowingly commit such a stupid act could do great damage to government officials.
At functions attended by Crown Prince Abdullah, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation and Prince Naif, the interior minister, with university students or others, the host prepares the questions in advance and chooses the persons who ask them. Their intentions may be good, but it is through such a system that mistakes and shortcomings are concealed and only the positive side projected. Is this acceptable?
When attending public functions and listening to the people, officials have one goal in mind; to find out what the shortcomings and mistakes are so that they can be addressed.
But how can they solve any problems if all they hear is what those individuals want them to hear; that everything is all right?
The government should immediately issue instructions to all those who invite them to a function to abandon this unacceptable practice.
If it is found that questions are prepared in advance the function should immediately be canceled.
Officials should be provided with plain facts, and we must ensure that sycophants are removed from the scene.
Arab News From the Local Press 26 April 2003
