Monday, 08 March 2010 | Dr. Ahmed Abdel Malik | the time
The “30th” annual meeting of the Development Forum under the title “Legislative Councils in the Cooperation Council Countries” was held recently in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Gulf thinkers and professionals participated in the meeting, who discussed the concerns of legislation related to the establishment and functioning of parliaments and democratic experiences in the region.
Several solid working papers were presented on the subject of the meeting. At a time when discrepancies emerged regarding the typical application of legislation for parliaments, by reviewing specific experiences in Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain and the Emirates, some considered the presence of anomalies in some Gulf experiences, and others considered that the region has a clear specificity through the quality of Systems and ways to deal with wealth. Dr. Ghanem Al-Najjar, the project manager for this year, considered that the political debate in the Kuwaiti National Assembly took many forms, but it emerged in the context of “flavored verbal altercations” in a humorous tone, outwardly clowning and defamation, leading to successive interrogations that did not exclude the Prime Minister personally. ”. He also considered that oil “reflects the balance of political forces and releases the appetite for fat tenders.” While the member of the Federal National Council in the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Abdul Rahim Shaheen, who monitored the federal experience in the UAE, considered that the council came in line with the social structure of the UAE, and saw that the council’s discussions were supportive of the economic movement according to the circumstances and the needs of each stage.
It is not possible to review all the valuable papers discussed in the meeting, but a quick look at the deliberations of the attendees reveals to us the urgent need for amendment and alteration in some legislations related to the work of parliaments. For example, it was noted that the appointed councils have no authority over the executive decision and focus on economic and development issues without delving into strategic issues or those related to wealth and ways of spending it. Also, most of these councils are “consultative” and have no right to discuss the government in its decisions, and the government has the right not to take into account the proposals and opinions of these councils. Some of the intervening saw that even elected parliaments are weakened by governments, and this results in a faint form of the democratic movement, represented in strengthening the existing government, obstructing democracy, and accusing the peoples of the Gulf of being still immature to adopt democratic forms, and consequently governments present a “gradual” model towards democracy. In addition, the power of the executive authority is stronger than the legislative authority, and this is contrary to what is happening in other parts of the world. Interfering also criticized the government’s drafting of bills, and in their opinion, this constitutes a derogation from the legislative authority. Some of those involved also complained about the lack of information on budget surpluses, and that this information is even withheld from some parliaments. One of the interlocutors touched on an important legislative issue on the democratic path, which is the government’s identification of voters, and he believes that this is an insult to the people. He also noted that transparency is missing in the democratic experiences in the Gulf. Some believed that the prevailing cultures in the Gulf society are based on three forms of culture: the culture of scholarship, the culture of truth, and the culture of extremism. They believe that the culture of truth should prevail and that the culture of extremism should recede. Others saw that there is a lack of balance between the state and society, that the state is strong and society is weak, and that it was the state that weakened the parliament by enacting laws in its favour. And that there is a need for fairness to the Gulf society through: finding a balance between society and the state, and a fair distribution of wealth. defending real laws and agreeing red lines; Because the motors are present in all currents, and they must be isolated from the societal consensus. Some thinkers believed that some deputies in the Kuwaiti National Assembly had turned into “followers” and pursuers of the transactions of their groups in government departments! That is, they waste the Council’s time devoted to thinking about issues of public interest. Some councils also suffer from the issue of project delays and frequent absences within the committees. And that there is an urgent need for a societal awareness, in order for the parliamentary work to get out of the “tie” of serving the family, tribe or sect; The services are directed towards all segments of society.
These are some of the ideas that were put forward in the forum’s meeting, but what we notice in the forum’s meetings, which has entered its thirtieth year, is the gap between it and society on the one hand, and between it and decision-makers and policy-makers, despite the serious efforts of the members of the forum in deliberating important issues and in the interest of the peoples of the region. We see the necessity for the opinions of Gulf thinkers and researchers to come out from within the walls of the meeting room to reach the people and governments. Indeed, there are Gulf elites who have not heard of the forum, and perhaps the forum setting up a website for it on the Internet is a good gesture to communicate the projects and ideas of the members of the forum to the public. www.df.ae”. The annual issuance of meetings and working papers reaches decision-makers and policy-makers, as stated by colleague Dr. Munira Fakhro, the general coordinator of the forum, but we believe that the matter needs to be institutionalized in order for the interaction between the forum and decision-makers to take place. Indeed, the forum is still looking for recognition from which country? Despite his good conduct for thirty years and to have a house in one of the GCC countries, even if it is one of the houses of people with limited income. The Forum’s distance from the media and vice versa created a state of separation between the Forum and the general community. This is what is absent from the efforts of members and authors of working papers and scientific research, and perhaps it is useful after the end of the thirtieth session of the legislative councils, for the councils of the nation and the shura to host elite members of the forum in order to explain and clarify what went on in the minds of the people of the Gulf, and the children listen to what is going on in the minds of the representatives.