Okaz

We criticized the reactions or lack reactions by some of our thinkers, writers and intellectuals to important issues on many occasions in the past. This time we are witnessing a very bad performance on the part of officials and responsible departments that are managing a crisis the Kingdom is witnessing now.

WITH the launch of vicious attacks against Saudi Arabia over the Jamal Khashoggi incident, one would ask what did the related departments do to resolve the matter. For example, did the Shoura Council hold a special session to discuss the matter, then decide to send delegations to visit the parliaments of countries that attacked Saudi Arabia to explain the Kingdom’s stand and the procedures it had taken?

Did the Foreign Ministry assign its specialized departments and its embassies in those countries to meet with political leaders and conduct press conferences to explain the true picture? Did the Ministry of Media activate the role of the press attachés abroad to communicate with the media and present the Saudi side of the story?

These departments did not do the least that they could have done in a sensitive situation like this. They have done nothing more than issuing routine reports targeting the local audience and the local media, as if the crisis was happening within the country and not abroad. This sort of vicious campaigns required quick countermeasures using effective tools. What is strange is the absence of the voice of the foreign minister, who proved effective and strong during the United Nations General Assembly a few days ago. He is a voice that we trust and he has great skills to respond to his opponents.

The slack performance of some departments here is harming our country. We criticized the reactions or lack reactions by some of our thinkers, writers and intellectuals to important issues on many occasions in the past. This time we are witnessing a very bad performance on the part of officials and responsible departments that are managing a crisis the Kingdom is witnessing now. We can say instead of bad performance, it is a total absence.

We know that the general policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not to rush and get excited in ambiguous cases such as that of Khashoggi. But there are initiatives that can taken within this framework and without going against the time-tested Saudi policy.