If the report published by a local newspaper is true, then we are faced with a real tragedy. The report said the minister of commerce and industry had issued a circular ordering all departmental heads not to give any statements to the press unless he had been consulted and given his approval. The minister wanted his aides to keep the ministry’s doings secret. The report was apparently correct since the paper cited the date of the circular, which was intended to prevent any news from jumping over the ministry walls. When I say a tragedy, it is because that is the right description for such a situation.
It is indeed shocking to see a minister, whom we should look on as an enlightened and highly responsible official, acting like this. Ministers are supposed to know the importance of communicating with the public, especially in matters that directly affect people’s daily lives. What makes the matter even more puzzling is that the minister’s decision comes at a time when we all agree on the need for transparency and for providing accurate information. Decision makers at the highest levels of power have all been recently stressing this. Is there any harm in the media telling the public the policies and decisions of a ministry as important as that of commerce and industry? How does the ministry want people to know about its work if its officials deny basic information to the media?
Reporters shouldn’t have to queue at officials’ doors, waiting for someone to be so kind as to provide them with a crumb of news.
This reluctance to provide news indicates one thing very clearly. Something is wrong with a ministry which does not want anyone to know about its policies and future plans and only makes them public when everything is ready.
Any agency that works in the open and cares for the public interest is not afraid to let people know how it does its job. As far as we know, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is not responsible for the production of nuclear reactors or weapons of mass destruction. So there seems to be no logical reason for keeping its doings secret.
Arab News From the Local Press 8 July 2003
