TWITTER and other social media have contributed to the sacking of a number of ministers and senior government officials after these platforms unraveled these individuals' shortcomings and their disregard toward citizens. The matter is not confined to Saudi Arabia only. In Egypt, the justice minister had to resign after social media circulated his statements in which he said the children of cleaners were not suitable to be judges. He said judges should come from a good cultural and economic background, which apparently does not exist in the world of poor people, especially street cleaners. The minister's lame statements were in gross violation of the simplest principles and basics of justice. The choice of judges should be on the basis of their personal merit and qualifications, not the social and economic status of their families. What really caught my attention in the story of the Egyptian justice minister was a tweet made by an Egyptian citizen that contained an important question. The tweet said: “Will the new minister of justice who will replace the outgoing one really approve the appointment of children of poor people and cleaners as judges or will he refrain from publicly announcing his rejection so as not to anger the public?” The same question can be asked here so that we do not blindly follow up the hashtags on Twitter or the press campaigns without having a real plan to solve the problem from its very roots. Getting rid of a minister or a senior government official for shortcomings, disrespect of others or substandard performance is no doubt the beginning of a solution but not the whole one that will put an end to the issue of unqualified ministers and high-ranking officials. Responding to the wishes of the citizens is a behavior that is worthy of respect but it does not change anything on the real ground. The performance of the ministry will remain the same after the ill-fated minister is sacked. Therefore, I see no reason for the euphoria and the exaggerated celebrations following the sacking of a minister who is not respecting the citizens or doing well in his ministry. The man has left his position and he will disappear into oblivion. More important than this is the performance of the new minister who will replace him and his actual achievements, not the cyber ones. In such circumstances, some ministers and senior officials may succeed through their personal skills or through the help of public relations companies that are specialized in dealing with social or traditional media and stemming their anger as much as possible. Gaining the satisfaction of the people on social media or at least avoiding their anger is not the issue. The important thing is that the new ministers and senior officials make real achievements on the ground for the welfare of the country and the citizens. I believe that some of you must have noticed that some ministers and officials are carefully marketing their image on social media. They are shown as really keen to interact with the citizens and the junior staff to influence public opinion. Gaining the satisfaction of social media users through such acts will not do any good to the citizens or the ministers themselves. The significant thing here is these ministers are doers and deliverers. They should achieve through deeds, not flowery words or nice pictures. They should be much better than the sacked ministers or they may soon follow them and have the same fate without any regret.
