Saudi Press Roundup

Egyptian elections

Acknowledging his defeat in Egyptian presidential elections, Hamdain Sabbahi said, “At this moment I tell my great nation that I respect their choice and I confirm my loss in the election.”
Sabbahi, who showed his boldness by contesting against popular candidate Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, said he couldn’t give any credibility to the number of voters who took part in the election, adding that the declared number of voters is an insult to Egyptians’ intelligence.
Sabbahi contradicted himself when he said authorities were not neutral and his campaign team had faced violations. “I don’t think, these violations had any big impact on the result.” Many people are confused by the figures and fantasies in Egyptian polls.
The reality is that not only Sabbahi lost the last election but all those who failed to make use of the opportunity during the past three years by just talking sentimentally and without making concrete efforts to establish a real political party or project capable leaders.
This may be applied to all Arab Spring countries. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood failed to correct their status. On other hand, the youth were unable to organize themselves and put forward a unified candidate as their leader. As a result it was expected for the former military commander to win a landslide in the election despite the deteriorating economic condition of the country.
It was expected for the various groups of people to rally behind El-Sissi being the most powerful man who can save Egypt and bring security and stability to the country.
— By Tariq Alhumayed — Asharq Al Awsat

Joint Arab army

Arab countries that have gone through political changes have proved their weakness in maintaining internal security. Their newly elected leaders have also shown their lack of expertise in steering the country through challenges. This is not a new revelation and this issue requires a bold and joint political initiative to confront challenges.
Such a bold initiative seems significant at a time when policies of world powers toward Arab countries were not very satisfactory. Saudi Arabia had proposed the establishment of a joint Arab army to replace American forces in the region. This will not only help end occupation but also strengthen the national security of Arab countries.
But the United States and the previous Egyptian government opposed the Saudi initiative. Now some Arab countries are facing lack of security because of the presence of paid mercenaries who work for different interest groups. The present situation in Libya demands a new initiative by Arab countries to form a joint army, which will be able to make rapid deployment at times of emergency to safeguard the security of a member country. We also need a joint Arab team to reconcile warring groups.
— By Dr. Mutlaq Saud Al-Motairy — Arriyadh

Tearing of school books

Some students tore their school textbooks after sitting for final examination recently. The childish move was immediately condemned by the society and blamed the action for poor education they received and bad upbringing by their parents.
There may be various reasons for students to show such unbecoming behavior. They may protest the problems and difficulties they faced from teachers and school authorities. They unleashed their anger toward authorities by tearing their books in front of their institutions.
Poor upbringing at home is another possible reason. But most parents teach their children to behave nicely. However, some children show bad behavior and engage in despicable activities despite the efforts by parents to bring them up in the best possible manner. The issue definitely demands more study and research.
— By Ali Al-Khuzaim — Al-Jazirah

Educational revolution

I was extremely happy when Education Minister Prince Khaled Al-Faisal announced new initiatives to improve the country’s education system. I am optimistic that it would bring about an educational revolution in the country, matching with the massive popular protests that have taken place in Arab Spring countries against their oppressive and tyrant rulers. I am confident that Prince Khaled Al-Faisal would take the Kingdom’s education system to new heights of progress and he can do it being the son of King Faisal who removed the taboo on women’s education.
We believe that improvement in education would bring about remarkable social and economic progress. King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program, which enables Saudi students to pursue their higher education at outstanding international universities, is another initiative that would speed up the Kingdom’s educational revolution.
— By Ali Al-Dhafeery — Alsharq

Arbitrary retrenchment

Some employers who do not know the labor laws terminate the services of their workers without following the legal procedure. They retrench workers without giving them one-month notice.
The relationship between employers and their workers would not continue forever. It will end one day but we should know the right way to end the work contract without affecting the rights of both parties. According to Article 74 of the Labor Law, the relationship between the employer and worker will end with the consensus of both parties or on the basis of the desire of one of the parties or when the worker reaches the retirement age or because of strong reasons that prevent either parties to implement the contract.
Despite the clarity of the law, some employers terminate the services of their workers in an arbitrary manner. Now the question is how can we differentiate between legal and arbitrary termination. Saudi Labor Law has not mentioned what is an arbitrary termination of service. However, we can say that if the termination was carried out in violation of Articles 74 and 75 and it was issued unilaterally before the end of the work contract and without giving any notice, then it is arbitrary.
In this case it is the duty of the worker to prove that the termination notice given to him was against the law and the employer must prove it was not. If the employer fails to prove it then it will be declared arbitrary termination and the worker will have the right to get him reinstated in the organization.
— By Bakheet Al-Ghabash — Makkah newspaper

Russian democracy

The events in Ukraine is no more considered a local conflict for power but carries all the signs of an international conflict involving different parties, after the military and economic decline of the United States. There are many players there including China and Russia; both of them are aspiring to impose their hegemony on the world.
Russia is now intending to strengthen its presence in the Arab world through the criminal Bashar Assad regime and establish a new reality on the ground, exploiting the absence of American superpower in the region. The Ukraine crisis once again proved that western countries use democracy as a ploy to interfere in the internal affairs of weak countries. The US has given $10 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine during the past 10 years to win the country’s loyalty.
We can see that the western countries are not united in dealing with Ukraine crisis. Germany was not ready to impose economic sanctions on Russia, saying it would negatively affect its interests. Russia has signed a deal with China to provide the latter gas for the next 20 years. Democracy has become just a ploy in the hands of US and other western countries to impose their hegemony on poor countries.
— By Dr. Sami Saeed Habeeb — Al-madina