HE Al Attiyah: HH the Emir Wants Qatar to Rank among Top 10 Most Transparent Countries

Doha, January 03 (QNA) - The idea behind HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani ordering the setting up of an anti-corruption watchdog is to ensure that Qatar ranks among the top 10 most transparent countries in the world, HE the Chairman of the recently set-up Administrative Control and Transparency Authority Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said. Qatar now ranks first among the Middle Eastern countries in terms of transparency and is keen to rid its systems of practices that hinder transparency. HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah has called on the media not to buckle under pressure when pursuing alleged cases of irregularities against any entity howsoever influential. "The media should be strong and should not give in when an entity against which it is writing with regard to alleged irregularities threatens to withdraw advertisement support," HE Al Attiyah said. In an extensive interview with Qatari daily (Al Sharq), HE Al Attiyah said that mechanisms could be studied in future about making it mandatory for ministers and other senior government officials to disclose their personal assets at the time of entering state service. "Some countries do have such a system but disclosing one s assets and income is more of a formality than anything else in these countries and they do not serve any practical purpose," HE Al Attiyah said. He said when he was the minister of energy a system whereby Qatar Petroleum (QP) employees signed an undertaking saying that there wouldn t be any conflict of interest in their work and personal life. "We could develop such a system," hinted the Chairman and said the Authority could act as a catalyst for separating the powers of the legislature, executive and judiciary in the country. He said currently technicalities are being worked out and the structure of the Authority is being given a final shape, so that it takes about two months to start operating. All government agencies including ministries will fall within its jurisdiction once the Authority starts operating. Replying to a question, HE Al Attiyah said that a state employee should not own or manage a private business or even be on the board of a listed company. It is a different issue that an official is on the board of a listed firm only as a representative of the state. That is ethically allowed because he is doing his job. Replying to another question, he said that the Authority has no plans to issue annual reports about transparency in Qatar because such a report wouldn t be as credible as one issued by an international transparency body. "So we leave it to international transparency organisations to issue such reports about Qatar. They would be more credible," HE Al Attiyah noted. HE the Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, responding to yet another question, said that if cases of senior government officials indulging in nepotism or favoritism in making appointments in their respective departments or agencies are brought to the notice of the Authority with documentary proof, such cases would be investigated. He made it clear that once the Authority becomes operational no complaints or information about corruption or financial irregularities would be entertained if they are not backed with documentary proof. The identity of the informer as also the information itself would be kept a secret and treated confidential. After verifying a complaint and making initial investigations the matter would be forwarded to Public Prosecution which will conduct further investigations and refer the matter to court. The Authority will work in close coordination with the State Audit Bureau so there is no question of duplication of work, HE Al Attiyah said. He said that it is difficult to get completely rid of corruption in any society so the objective of the Authority is to reduce malpractices as much as possible. HH the Emir wants Qatar to rank among the top 10 most transparent countries in the world and this is the primary objective behind setting up the Authority, Al Attiyah said. Qatar is currently the most transparent country in the Middle East. It is on top of the list of Transparency International among Middle East states, he said. (QNA)