THE enforced departure of former Housing Minister Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi has been followed by the ouster of Health Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib, destroying any illusion that the ministerial position is untouchable. No minister is permanently immunized against a sacking. In my opinion, this is a sufficient sign of the administrative reforms that are no doubt being implemented fast. Even if the minister's portfolio has gained a political nature due to his membership in the Council of Ministers, he remains in all circumstances only a government employee. He is nothing more than an employee appointed to serve the people. The only guarantee for the minister to remain in this high position is a good performance, nothing less. The replacement or rotation of the service ministers will give the administrative body much vitality regardless of the ministers' performances. Stalemate and stagnation in any ministerial position will lead to administrative build-ups. Files will accumulate in the ministers' drawers with no decisions taken on them. This new era of rule in the Kingdom is characterized by a swiftness of decision-making and immediate responses to the hopes and aspirations of citizens. This political and administrative vitality will definitely culminate in quick, positive results, especially in terms of development. The sacking of ministers and senior government officials from their posts due to poor performance is a necessity. No minister or senior official should have the wrong notion that he is permanently staying in his position regardless of performance. The principle of change in itself is a healthy sign and will have magical effects on the local administrative body. The ministers who stay for a long time in their positions do not usually tend to change their teams, undersecretaries, office staff or even their modus operandi. Their work, in this case, will go in the same direction for years. The enthusiasm the minister shows when he first assumes his position will fade away. Waves of monotony, fatigue and carelessness will sneak into the ministry's body. Clandestine power circles will start to surface. This will lead to a duality in the process of decision-making. We may have made a lot of gains in the quick and decisive sackings of some ministers carried out by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman within a short span of time. The king does not hesitate to relieve any minister or senior government official if his performance is found to be substandard. We will, however, make more gains if we adopt the policy of constant change and rotation whenever enough time has passed for the minister, during which he must have given whatever he can. We come back to the Health Ministry. Five ministers have taken this portfolio in a short time. We hope that the continuous rotation of ministers will not confuse the ministry or shatters its plans. This ministry is one of the government departments directly connected to the people and as such should be meeting public expectations. We hope that the new minister Mohammed Al-Asheikh will restore vitality and exuberance to the ministry. It is not a secret that the Health Ministry has gone into a deep slumber for many years. Sedatives and painkillers were not able to treat the ministry or awaken it from its deep sleep. We hope that the new minister will wake it from its sleep. I have no doubt that he is very much capable of doing this.
