Rulers of ‘it is being said’

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IT is common for Arabs to know what is happening around them through what is being said. This habit was also prevalent among the rulers in the past, as most of them relied on what they heard in popular diwans and meeting spots.

In fact, the leaders took decisions based on second-hand or even third-hand information, unaware of what is actually transpiring outside the walls of their palaces, let alone the entire state. This kind of oversight on the affairs of the state breeds bribery, corruption, graft, strife, unrest, and spread of rumors. Eventually, weakness pervades every pillar of the state.

This is because the rulers were far from the concerns of their people, and were satisfied with the agencies of “it’s being said…” as the only source of news.

There are countries where rulers meet people in the alleys and markets either in disguise or revealing themselves. This led such rulers to be able to correct and rectify any defect and address the daily challenges faced by their people without any delay.

Such rulers, who were known as field leaders, succeeded in developing their states and continued ruling for a long period of time.

However, with the development of states, the methods changed, but those who retained the habit of assessing the affairs of their people through agents could not get out of the cocoon of “it’s being said … “, thus paving the way for the demise of their states.

This is because their absence from daily follow-up established the game of interests among the upper class, advisors and ministers, who often filter the reality of things, especially when it comes to the concerns of people, thus becoming the biggest killers of countries.

In our time, despite the development of technology, there are field leaders who go out to meet and interact with their people in order to have first-hand knowledge of their conditions. These leaders sometimes even take the ideas of the people. Among these are some leaders of the Arabian Gulf states where sometimes you can see the ruler roaming around and interacting with the public.

This kind of approach enables the ruler to develop the state quickly while strengthening its foundations and boasting its vigor.

On the other hand, there are Arab rulers who are satisfied with what they receive from their close associates, courtiers and advisors, or they rely on reports of security officers. There is no doubt that many of these reports have been written according to the whims of the advisor or officer. So, the innocent people are oppressed because the interest of the report writer requires that… And thus confusion and chaos abounds.

This creates nervous tension, and increase in familial, tribal, partisan and sectarian fevers, rendering the state to turn into islands that are isolated from each other, as is the case in Lebanon, Iraq, and some other countries that have been hit by various diseases and are starting to show weakness factors.

There is no doubt that such a situation is sufficient to bring down the largest countries; for instance the Soviet Union, which, despite being a great power, was killed by age and lack of feeling the pulse of the streets.

On the other hand, in the Western democratic countries, the rulers opened their doors to their people and interacted with them with full transparency. They worked with freedom of opinion and expression that is guaranteed constitutionally and legally, away from slander, cursing, accusation and traitors.

There is no doubt that misleading the ruler is a major sin. This unfortunately is practiced by many advisors and security officers in countries where leaders have thick curtains on their windows, and sit behind the doors listening to rumors … This led to the weakness of their countries and the absence of firm decisions.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 11673 times!