Question on the Go: a New Government to End the Embezzlement of the Dollar

We said that our freedom, our dignity and our rights are not subject to compromise and that the U.S. dollar would not be the platform for our people to reach their destination. The birth certificate of our independent country will not be stamped in green or blue. It was already marked by the color of the blood of our free martyrs and the Palestinian and the Arab victims who died on the trail to freedom and construction.

We need to defend our strategic decision by means of practical measures to enable us to face the financial and political pressures. We are approaching a new era of stability, security, development, a democratic framework and a rule of law that will guide the direction of our lives and open a new horizon toward a bright future. But we believe that the process of securing sources of money must flow successfully, despite the great confidence in the financial independence of the National Authority at the end of this year, as promised by Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad.

We shall offer advice to the government in order to enhance its resilience and freedom from extortion by the U.S. and others.

What is needed is the reconsideration the very high salaries for senior staff in power and their recalculation based on new schedules that are based on the revenues of the National Authority from guaranteed internal and external sources. We also need to review the salaries (which are many) for the wives, sons and daughters of officials who are paid while not producing. This will enable the Authority to provide officials with adequate salaries for living.

But when the husband’s income is 10,000 shekels or more, for example, his wife receives an amount not less than 6,000 shekels and his unmarried daughter receives an amount of at least 4,000, then the matter requires urgent intervention from the government to review the payroll schedule and guarantee equitable distribution of income not only to this family but also to another family that is facing financially difficult times. This will offer equitable distribution to support poor families in need of income as well as employment opportunities, which is the most important goal of a fair government.

The Authority should form a committee to review the salaries of the wives, sons and daughters and then decide on the salary for the household, while setting up the minimum and maximum salary limits for the wife based on physical conditions of work and employee performance. This will enable detection of a salaried employee who may not be working at all but, nevertheless, receives a salary from the Authority. There are many cases like these, and they can be documented. Detecting these cases can save the Authority millions of dollars that can be dedicated to providing equitable distribution for social programs. This reform will also help shield the Authority from the anger of the street as well as the anger of those who are influential.

Another committee can research the possibility of raising taxes on the salaries of officials of civil and non-governmental organizations who are receiving high salaries from programs of donor countries, ensuring the availability of revenue for programs dedicated to benefiting the poorer segments of society. The Authority should give priority to reducing disparities of income, while preserving the right for those with experience, skills and efficiency in scientific fields. Salary remuneration should be commensurate with the physical and expert contributions of employees.

The government should speed the opening of new investigations into those accused of embezzling public funds in order to bring them to justice and should persevere in recovering these funds without regard to their positions or influence. The sharks have devoured what is not lawfully theirs. But the time has come to recover from their bellies what they have acquired and redistribute it to the poor citizens, who are the rightful owners.

The new government should undertake the task of liberating us from the political embezzlement of the dollar. If successful, it would then be able to extend a strong, solid bridge toward an independent state. This will lead to success. But will you see it being able to succeed, or will there be an administrative revolution?