What are the benefits of grillings?

The interpellation recently filed against former Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah was chronically the 84th in 54 years, starting from 1963. The figure is very large, but scientific studies revealing seriousness in using the constitutional tool of interpellation are very few. However, without going into the details of each grilling motion, this number indicates the following:

1- The clear wish of various parliaments to achieve reform.

2- The government’s evident unwillingness to deal with the parliament’s wish towards achieving reform, and this was very clear in the results of every grilling motion.

3- For over half a century of parliamentary life, the government’s administrative performance has showed no significant improvement. Moreover, the state’s rank on international, and even Arab, corruption indices has drastically fallen.

4- There is no real sociopolitical wish to combat corruption and reform the administration, and this is very clear in attitudes towards the Public Anti-Corruption Authority and State Audit Bureau reports. 5- The development of nominal foundations needed to meet international demands without actually activating them (such as the Human Rights Diwan and the Public Anti-Corruption Authority).

So, in conclusion, what are the benefits of interpellations? The answer is nothing, but changing faces of some ministers in what appears to be corruption-motivated temporary revenge expressed emotionally. It is noteworthy here to release the parliament from blame, because most of the development keys are in the government’s hands, that “owns” people, capital and decision-making. So to say that corrupt and pro-government MPs exist seems more like an insignificant detail.

Therefore, parliamentary monitoring will gain nothing, unless the government administration develops and intends to use true accountability regardless of personal loyalty to senior officials. The parliament will go on using its constitutional tools in monitoring, but we will remain going round and round in circles gaining nothing but sociopolitical tension and gridlock that no one can predict how it might be expressed, and this is the real danger.