I recently came across two different statements by ministers commenting on two different subjects. When I went through them I realized that we are dealing with a new kind of mentality that departs radically from the familiar style of administrators in this country.

The language they used reassured me that the needs of the time are leading us in the direction of openness and transparency. The days of pretty phrases and carefully worded denials of the kind government public relations departments excel in must go, and forever.

In the first statement the minister of justice admitted that his ministry feels it is not doing enough when it comes to women’s rights. He said women face difficulties trying to bring a case before a judge or notary public and that cases filed by women are usually met with long delays and procrastination.

Thank you, Minister, for the courage and frankness you have shown. I wish your statement had come one month earlier when we assembled for the recent National Dialogue Forum in Madinah, whose theme was women’s rights and responsibilities. All that the participants in that conference could produce was a recommendation stressing the right of women to “marriage and motherhood”. When some delegates called for a discussion of more pressing issues, many objected. The conference ended with the usual conclusion: Everything is all right.

In the second statement the minister of water said some neighborhoods in the capital were drinking desalinated tap water that has been mixed with sewage. He stressed that this was a fact, not a rumor.

Thank you, Minister, for your courage and frankness. Again, I wish your statement had been accompanied by a detailed list of the type of penalties that will be meted out to everyone involved, be they private companies government officials or anyone else. The first to be punished should have been the flunkeys and PR people who rushed to your office denying any such thing had ever happened as well as all those who lined up before you to tell you: Sir, everything is all right.

The majority of the public think that all ministers and senior officials do is issue readymade denials and denunciations, and that junior staff and others in the PR business merely copy their superiors.

The public wants the ministers to be more open, admit mistakes or shortcomings and punish those who make us drink polluted water. They want them to close down the PR offices and instead issue an annual report of just two pages, one containing the denials issued during the year and the other showing the mistakes that have been admitted. Let the people see for themselves which way the balance tilts.