Is the Assembly’s important?
Many people may find the title of my column a little strange, and the majority might accuse me of being undemocratic. Despite all these hypothetical theories, I repeat the question: Is there any importance of the existence of the National Assembly? The column today has two parts to present the question to our readers, and I leave the judgment and finding the solution to them.
The first part is about the money spent on the Assembly and the nation’s deputies. We should calculate the money being spent out of the state budget on Abdullah Al-Salem Hall and those who work there. There should be an office for each MP, who needs at least two or three employees (as secretaries), and the offices themselves should be finely furnished, along with state-of-the-art electronic equipment, bearing in mind that all these accessories are replaced every year. How many employees, tea boys and office boys are there to keep the MP’s mood at its best? We should not forget that a car is also allocated to each MP, as if the deputies of the nation do not possess cars. It seems that if “anything is free...give me more”.
Three meals a day and afternoon tea - this is not an assembly; it is a five-star restaurant. My dear MPs, what about the food in your own houses, and what about the personal chef? This is in addition to stationery, security employees and WiFi services so that our MPs can tweet and play games. We should not forget the official trips and the Majles TV Channel, so that the people’s voices can be heard. The question that presents itself is - is there anyone among us who heard a whimper about his issues inside Abdullah Al-Salem Hall? The majority are silent because of interests that we do not know or hear about, and only our MPs know about it, but only care about their personal interests and ignore our nation’s voice.
The second part: How many assemblies came into existence? They either got dissolved or their term ended. What are MPs’ achievements and work compared to the prosperous life they enjoy under the Abdullah Al-Salem dome? How many petitions were presented at the complaints committee, and how many out of them were discussed and solved? Nothing, in my own personal opinion. If the Audit Bureau gets an opportunity to account for all the mistakes of its employees, we will find a huge amount of financial violations, and the decision will be to abolish the Assembly, because it is a burden to our nation. “If you cannot say what is right, then do not cheer what is wrong.” — Sheikh Mohammad AlMitwalli Al-Shaarawi.