In spite of the greater freedom afforded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the press to criticize government ministries, the response to press reporting of misdemeanors is either weak or simply nonexistent.
These government bodies are not bothered about what is written about them, something that makes writers feel they are speaking to a brick wall. The reason why they are not perturbed is because they are immune from being held accountable and judged — they will not be asked to deal with their mistakes nor will they be penalized.
The media, in the contemporary age, is tasked with the duty of monitoring the government. Failure to react when a misdemeanor is exposed can be likened to a doctor who diagnoses an illness and fails to treat it. Instead he gives the patient sedatives (read “promises”), which may help relieve the pain. However, with time the pain will be beyond cure.
Media criticism is not an end in itself, but a means to help improve the way the government performs. However, criticism will be pointless if ministries fail to respond.
For example, I wrote an article on May 18 about the stock market catastrophe and that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was responsible for the tragedy. I recalled statements made by the SAMA governor who said his organization was ready to remedy any negative effects, which may occur as a result of falling shares.
This made people enter the stock market with their eyes shut, as they fully believed that SAMA would interfere if share prices dropped.
Since then, we have not heard anything from the governor. There is no response, comment or clarification from him or his agency, as if none of them had any hand in what happened to people. It seems the governor has forgotten his promises and that he is not concerned with what happened to people at the stock market. We need to be assured about our economic situation; this is especially the case with our local investors and their investments, which should be managed by people who are capable and trustworthy. These people should be capable of dealing with changes to make us confident that our economy is in good hands.
People will not be confident, unless government officials begin responding to criticism. These officials should not turn a deaf ear to the shortcomings of their institutions. It is unfair and unacceptable to victimize people or make them deal with the mistakes of others. It is unfair that people lose their savings while the man who caused them to do so is not held accountable, especially since we live under a fair king who made reform one of the slogans of his reign.
