I Will Not Resign..!!

The Council of Ministers approved the transfer of the “Center for Charity and Humanitarian Work” from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State, Mr. Sharida Al-Muwasharji. A law establishing the center was previously issued last September to oversee the regulation of charitable and humanitarian work, as well as the operations of charitable societies, most of whose boards are known to be affiliated with religious political currents and parties.

The decision represents a good and largely deserved step, despite the serious flaws contained in the law. The transfer order also signaled official dissatisfaction with the manner in which oversight of charitable societies had been conducted. We have repeatedly called for the application of governance standards and stricter supervision of these entities. The Council of Ministers justified its decision as stemming from a policy aimed at “regulating the charitable sector,” structuring it, and reorganizing it.

We have previously written and warned that the law establishing the “National Center” contained a serious flaw: it opened the door to appointing three members representing charitable societies to the seven-member board of the center. This may be the first time I have heard of appointing individuals who require monitoring to the very body tasked with monitoring, holding accountable, and imposing sanctions on them, up to revoking their societies’ licenses. Is there any rational person who can believe in the neutrality of such members, even if they resign from their positions in the societies? Their loyalties will remain deeply rooted, both ideologically and politically. These charitable societies are not like the Cartoonists Association or the Divers Association; with respect to all, they are highly sensitive and dangerous entities. Appointing members to them should require approval from multiple authorities, including State Security, given the extensive controversies over the past seventy years regarding the conduct of some of their staff.

Consequently, doubts will inevitably surround every decision issued by the center’s board. It will not be easy for independent members to impose sanctions on societies to which three of their “colleagues” on the board belong. The situation is even more serious given that these societies manage hundreds of millions of dinars in charitable funds. Many of their members, based on religious texts, believe they have a share in what is collected. Moreover, once these funds are collected from donors, some view them as “ownerless” money, free from the conscience of those who collected them.

To respect the reputation and integrity of “everyone’s conscience,” the legislator should, to avert suspicion, amend the clause regarding the center’s board members. No one with a current or past relationship or interest with charitable societies should be allowed to serve on the center’s board.

Ahmed Al-Sarraf