Financial analyst Khaled Al-Zantouti wrote to Sada Economic News:
Recently, many voices have risen calling for the need for financial and administrative reform, especially following the recent statement by the Central Bank Governor.
Here, I ask a somewhat innocent question: Where were some of these voices (and I do not generalize) that are now demanding public financial reform? Where were they all these years, despite repeated warnings about the dangers of financial and administrative disorder by some experts?
We saw nothing from executive officials—and perhaps some legislative ones—but a deepening erosion of even the most basic principles of governance and oversight in public finance. What’s even more baffling is that many of the voices now calling for reform come from those same executive and legislative authorities! Where were they? Did they only now notice this dysfunction? Only after the governor’s statement (the “inaugural speech”) just two weeks ago? Why didn’t they sit down together—with their experts and advisors—to try to address the catastrophe?
Sadly, they were preoccupied with their disgusting power struggles, through which they compete for spoils, using tools and bodies that have no legitimate foundation.
I say this: You cannot fix this tragic dysfunction using the same people who caused it, whether with good or bad intentions! You cannot kill the victim and cry at their funeral. You cannot fight corruption and mismanagement with the same corrupt individuals—both administratively and financially!
We must first return to the rule of law and apply it to everyone, without exceptions. Only then can we identify: Who? And for whom? Only then can we punish the wrongdoer and honor the innovator. Through that, true, sincere, and purposeful reform will begin.
Anything else? We’ll just be plowing the sea—and continuing to lament over ruins.
