From time to time, the deputy chairman of the Shoura Council, Bakri ibn Saleh Shatta, has issued various statements concerning the council’s role. We believe some of his statements are not an accurate reflection of the actual role expected of the council and its honorable members.
In one such statement, for example, he said the council had no supervisory role in the strict sense of the word. He explained that its role was organizational and meant to follow up various government departments.
He further stated that he does not like to use such words as "supervise" or "oversee" since those are the roles of other bodies — including the general auditing office and financial controllers appointed by the Ministry of Finance.
According to him, money is only allocated by these financial representatives while the auditing office goes over financial reports on an annual basis. The Shoura’s aim, he added, is strategy without attending to the tiny details contained within the reports.
Well as it happens, we disagree with the honorable deputy chairman. His statements may express his opinion but it does not reflect the actual role of the council members.
This role, in my view, goes beyond mere organizational activities and follow-up. If Shatta does not like such words as "supervise" and "oversee" and he considers them to be beyond the council’s responsibilities, he is doing an injustice to the council and limiting the role of its honorable members. If his idea were in practice, the role of council members would be less significant than that of a financial representative appointed to oversee the affairs of a government department.
The supervisory role which Shatta seems to deny is enshrined in the council’s statutes; Article 22 stipulates that the council chairman may write to the prime minister asking to summon any government official to attend council sessions if the council is discussing issues which fall under that official’s jurisdiction. Indeed, on several occasions in the past, the council has called many officials with whom the council members discussed issues relating to the performance of their departments.
In his recent address at the new session of the council, Prince Abdullah, the regent, was clear and emphatic in urging the council to carry out its job fully with all transparency and to maintain that transparency when summoning an official to appear before it.
(17 September 2002)
