“The reshuffle fell short of people’s expectations” is a sentence we have heard many times since the announcement of the new Cabinet. The issue is not whether the comment is right or wrong but who are these “people” who must have expressed their views and explained their expectations? In fact, those “people” were only a few individuals within a narrow circle of friends and relatives who met at social events or chatted with on the telephone. The overwhelming majority of the population has no involvement with those expectations. Nobody in fact knows if the public really did expect anything — let alone what it was. This is because the tool used to monitor trends — known as public opinion — does not exist here. How then can anyone speak or write of “public opinion” if the people were not consulted to find out their reactions and views?
Until we are able to measure and listen to public opinion, all that is said about people wanting this or expecting that remains no more than one or two people’s opinions that do not represent the opinions of the general public. Based on this, comments on the reshuffle reflect a personal view that may be backed up by what was said at certain social gatherings.
The change was timely as were the cancellations, mergers and renaming of ministries. What was not expected, however, was the addition of culture to the ministry of information. Many, including government officials, would like to see information and the media undergo a radical change. This will require new approaches and new tools to improve performance and end the current state of stagnation. In order to do this, the ministry of information must focus on one mission — breathing life into the dead body of information. With the ministry being saddled with additional burdens and being asked to handle culture, there is the risk of culture being sucked into the very same dark tunnel the media has been struggling to escape. Before judging the move, let us wait and see because in the end, what matters are results.
People have welcomed the new faces coming into the Cabinet for the first time and are hoping to see better performances. The ministers who had their terms in office extended for another four years have been met with mixed reactions. Some have been welcomed while the news about some others has been greeted with raised eyebrows.
Arab News From the Local Press 6 May 2003
