EVERY citizen desires for the goodness of his/her country in one way or the other, either through involvement in decision-making or participating in the development process. Our main concern is to make our country stable and secure and a lighthouse of knowledge, science and civilization. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman expressed this concern while addressing the Shoura Council after opening its seventh session. The King emphasized that security and stability of Saudi man and renaissance of the Kingdom can be achieved through joint efforts of the leadership and people. After addition of new blood to the Shoura, we expect the newly appointed members would try to build bridges of confidence with citizens to create a better image about the council. The worst thing an official can do is to confront citizens and harass them, instead of taking them into confidence. Most citizens do not know their rights and it is the duty of officials to explain to them their rights frankly and transparently in a simple language. I believe that the existing Shoura members including the new members would establish a strong relationship with citizens to win their confidence. People should know Shoura's decisions and recommendations are aimed at enhancing the welfare and well-being of citizens. Shoura members are not supposed to blame citizens for the failure of government departments. During the last session, citizens had heard some embarrassing statements from Shoura members for the first time. Some members questioned citizens' patriotism while some others ridiculed retirees and demanded hike in petrol prices and lifting of subsidy on bread. They also called for imposing fees on citizens and residents for removing garbage from the neighborhood. Some members had made irresponsible statements such as housing is not a citizen's right, teacher's increment must be linked with students' progress and cancel students' stipends. Some members even spoke about abayas worn by TV anchors and talk-show hosts. I am very sorry to say that those pronouncements were not expected from our respected Shoura members. I believe that these kind of statements and reactions would expand the gap between citizens and Shoura members, especially when they feel that the Shoura has failed to take up many important issues that concern them. We have not heard from these members strong questions against the ministries of labor, health and education to improve their services and solve citizens' woes and problems by making innovative proposals. Some members have given a bad impression about Shoura through their statements and activities, which have disappointed citizens. Some members do not even cast their votes on issues to express their opinion on them. This is a clear violation of their duty as Shoura members. I hope the present Shoura Council would learn from past mistakes in order to show a better performance, realizing the hopes and aspirations of citizens. I am happy that the King has renewed the membership of 50 percent of members considering their commendable contributions. I would like to remind the new members about some outstanding issues including unemployment and the need to nullify Article 77 of the Labor Law and compensate its victims. Employment of a group of "spare teachers" is another issue that should grab the new Shoura's special attention. A royal decree has been issued three years ago to employ them in three stages. First two batches have been employed but the third batch still remains unemployed. These graduates have been visiting the Education Ministry during the last three years without any use. There are about 6,000 unemployed Saudi engineers in addition to unemployed health graduates, who seek Shoura's care and support. We have not yet seen the impact of ongoing efforts to develop curriculum and improve teaching method. We also want to know the progress of health insurance for Saudis. The scheme was prepared during the time of Dr. Hamad Al-Manie when he was the health minister. After him six ministers have taken over the portfolio but no progress has been noticed. Regarding salaries of government employees, I would like to know when the canceled allowances would be reinstated. There was a plan to merge these allowances with the basic salary to solve the problem of low salary. When are we going to have qualified Saudis to take up various positions in the country without depending on expats? There was a proposal to incriminate hatred and was presented to the Shoura but no action has been taken on the issue. There are many other issues and I don't want to mention them all here due to space constraints. We are now facing a lot of challenges and we expect fruitful thoughts and ideas from Shoura members and government officials to tackle them. We are now in need of more achievements than statements to change our lives and society to the better. Intensive efforts are required to fight poverty and economic depression. I am confident about the Kingdom's bright future and believe that the synergy of Shoura members would help us solve all our problems and achieve success and progress in all areas.
