People … look at how Stalin and Khrushchev stopped tampering with leadership positions

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NO matter how strong the State is, it puts its foot on the path of failure once tampering with the executive leadership positions begins. This cannot be avoided or ended unless the afflicted State returns to the legal standards, while abandoning nepotism and favoritism. This is due to the fact that such cultures are the reason for obstructing projects; and a main source of quotas — whether tribal, sectarian or familial.

Those who have the opportunity to be responsible for any administration, but are not qualified, make the wrong decisions, which could be a tool for destroying any institution.

Also, this arouses the resentment of qualified people who wait for 20 or 30 years and do not obtain their rights because of the ‘parachute’ appointment of people from outside the administration to positions that they cannot handle. This disregards the law and negates the country’s supreme interest.

In developed countries, there is a long and complex process for selecting an official, starting from searching his file. This process often passes through the Department of Internal Security, which does not favor anyone and does not submit erroneous reports. In addition, they have a mini-ministerial council tasked to specify the qualities and qualifications needed for choosing the official.

In some countries, there is a parliamentary committee or one in the Senate like the case in the United States, to reject or approve an appointed ambassador, as well as some executive officials.

This is because the goal is to appoint an expert who is honorable and the servant of the nation, not the Kuwaiti style called ‘this is our son’. In this regard, the head of an Arab government whose name I can no longer remember once said: “We allow him to marry our daughter, but we cannot appoint him to a vital position.”

It goes without saying that in the past decades, the deep State has eroded the foundations of administration. It has sought to appoint its followers to executive positions in order to exploit them to push for the implementation of its projects. Because of this, we have witnessed many poorly implemented projects and a lot of tampering with them. Some of them cost the State dozens of times higher than the actual cost.

Nonetheless, it is possible to refer to a story from the memoir of the late leader of the Soviet Union — Nikita Khrushchev — who said: “Comrade Joseph Stalin called me saying, ‘Come to my office quickly, there is a big conspiracy.’ I arrived at the office and there was a group of ministers with us.

“Then, Stalin stated: ‘Nikita, comrade, we have a tyre factory that is a gift from the American company — Ford, which has been producing tyres for years and it is in good shape.

‘“However, six months ago, this factory suddenly started producing tyres that exploded after a few kilometers and no one knows the reason. I want you to go to the factory immediately to determine the reason.

“I arrived at the factory and started the investigation immediately. The first thing that caught my eye was the wall of heroes at the entrance of the factory.

“On this wall, the pictures of the best workers and administrators who worked hard within a month were displayed, and investigations began directly from the administration to the smallest worker.

“None of them knows the reasons. I decided to sleep in the factory to solve this mystery. I woke up early in the morning and stood at the first production line. I followed one of the tyres and walked with it from scratch until it left the factory. I was frustrated.

“Everything was normal, everything was correct, and everything was perfect. But the tyre exploded after a few kilometers. I gathered the engineers, workers and administrators, brought the plans, and contacted the American engineers. We did not reach a solution. I analyzed the raw materials used in manufacturing the tyre. The analysis proved that they are very excellent and are not the reason at all. The tyre exploded for no reason.

“I was frustrated … and felt helpless … As I was walking in the factory, the wall of heroes caught my eye. On top of the heroes’ list was an engineer. I noticed that this engineer was at the top of the list for six months, that is, since the tyres began exploding for no reason.

“I could not sleep. I called this engineer to my office immediately for an investigation. I told him: ‘Please explain to me, comrade, how did you manage to be the production champion for six consecutive months?’

“He said: I was able to save millions of Rubles for the factory and the State.

“I asked: How did you do that?

“He responded: I simply reduced the number of metal wires in the tyre. Thus, we were able to save hundreds of tons of metal every day.

“At this point, I was very happy because I finally solved the mystery and I had no patience for that. I called Stalin immediately and explained to him what happened. After a minute of silence, he said literally: ‘Now, where is this idiot’s body buried?’

“Actually, comrade, I did not execute him. I will send him to Siberia because people will not understand why we are executing a production hero.”

I dedicate this story to the higher circles that should be written in golden letters, and placed on the desk of any official.

This is because it is important to protect our country and not to underestimate the executive responsibility placed on the shoulders of employees, or to limit benefits to the interest of some people at the expense of others.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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