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IIFA Utsavam 2024: Stars gather for South Indian cinema's biggest night in Abu Dhabi; as it happened
The awards show in Abu Dhabi celebrates all things South Indian cinema
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GCC Moves Ahead With Innovative Democratisation
DUBAI — GCC countries as a whole are going ahead with the initiatives to usher in new democratic forms of governance even while trying to preserve their traditional values, according to the panelists participating in a discussion arranged as part of the Wharton Global Alumni Forum here on Wednesday.
Democracy did not mean Western democracy alone. There is no need for a conflict between traditional forms of monarchy and democracy, which emphasises on the core values like people’s participation, transparency and accountability. It is possible to uphold these values even in a traditional monarchy regime. Countries like Kuwait had begun such experiments much early while others like the UAE are also catching up with such transformations, said Abdalatif Yousef Al Hamad, Chairman of Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Kuwait, setting the tone for the discussions.
“We can enforce those changes only through a gradual process. We cannot jeopardise the stability, security, growth and all that we have gained in last 37 years in the name of granting freedom. We cannot do anything that will disrupt our security. What we want is a responsible freedom, and not blindly emulate the Western notions about it,” said Najla Al Awadhi, the Member of the UAE Federal National Council, and Deputy CEO of Dubai Media Incorporated.
According to her recent UAE laws on media freedom and on Emirati labour were incorrectly reported by the media. The new law on media freedom had lot of positive features than the previous law. “If you ask me whether that is the ideal and most desirable law, I will say it is not. We have lot more to achieve. But that is a right beginning in that it grants several freedoms which were being deprived in the law that was prevailing earlier.”
Similarly the law on terminating the Emirati workers from private sector was not meant to support inefficient Emirati workers, as was reported in the Media. The objective of the UAE Government is to make the Emirati workers so efficient that any firm would be keen to hire and retain them, she said.
The panel discussion was moderated by Professor N. Bulent Gultekin, Associate Professor of Finance, The Wharton School. The panelists included Sir Paul Judge, Chairman, Schroder Income Growth Fund Plc, London.
ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae
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