At the Abha Cultural Forum, Qenan Al-Ghamdi asked members of the Shoura Council a question. “Why can’t 10 members of the Shoura Council embrace the idea of reforming the Kingdom’s civil service?” he said.
In an article published in the Okaz newspaper last month, Essa Al-Holayan argued that the Shoura members keep themselves preoccupied with minor issues leaving aside bigger and more important ones.
Because I haven’t heard anyone from the Shoura answering these criticisms and myself being a former member of the council, I believe that I have the right to put forward my opinions.
Before I start answering the questions posed by my two respected colleagues, I would like to affirm that the civil service is not the only system in the Kingdom that requires some improvement and upgrading. There are many other stale systems that come in this category. Therefore, the question must be addressed in a more generalized way.
We must ask the Shoura Council members the following: Why can’t ten members of the council embrace the idea of reforming all poorly run systems and departments in the Kingdom?
Article 23 of the Shoura Council Law has been modified giving greater powers to the advisory body. It says: “The Shoura Council shall have the jurisdiction to draft a new law or propose an amendment to an existing law and discuss these in the council. The speaker shall submit to the king the new or amended law approved by the council.”
In light of this, if there is a failure to do what ought to be done then this could be attributed to the Shoura members who are not making use of their given rights as mentioned in the byelaw of the council.
I join my colleagues Qenan Al-Ghamdi and Essa Al-Holayan in posing the same question by adding a general tone to it. Why can’t the Shoura members embrace the idea of reforming incompetent systems in the country including the Shoura system?
