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The Municipal Projects Coordinator of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, Nidal Hayek: "Our activity focuses upon ethics in politics and promotion of transparency in governmental activity."
Nidal Hayek, Municipal Projects Coordinator of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG), is aware of the fact that his mission is complex. Despite the fact that Arab localities in Israel suffer from a lack of basic infrastructure, Nidal continues in his attempt to improve the ethical standards of public officials and ethics in Israeli politics.
In the following interview, Hayek tries to explain how it is possible to increase the demand for the "product" of good governance.
The Movement for Quality Government – General Information:
"The movement was founded in March 1990 as a result of a coalitional crisis, with a handful of hunger strikers, protesters and other regular citizens, who wanted change and a proper system of government" explains Nidal Hayek.
"MQG operates on the basis of private donations and not governmental support, and of the membership fees of its 13,000 members, in order to ensure its independence. MQG is an independent, apolitical, and nonprofit organization. Among its activities, MQG has also dealt with the difficulties of the local Arabic municipalities: for instance, its 2004 petition concerning appointment of comptrollers in local governments where no comptroller had been appointed. In addition, in 2006 we created a unique project for the Arab local governments, in which we review the conduct of about 15 Arab local governments, such as Nazareth, Sahnin, Rahat, Taybe, Um el Fahem and Shfar'am. In the project, the local governments are intensely and continually monitored by MQG's staff, in order to repair the defects revealed in the annual reports of the Local Government Auditing Department of the Ministry of the Interior."
"It's Necessary to Change the Current Norms"
Hayek believes there are some profound problems in the area of Arab local government that require serious treatment and fundamental solutions. In reply to our question about what worries him regarding the conduct of local government in the country, Hayek said "first of all, I would like to emphasize that even though these days we are dealing with the Arab local governments, similar defects and problems exists also in the local governments with Jewish and bi-national populations. There are severe problems in Arab local government that require serious, intensive and long-term treatment, that also takes into account the unique characteristics of Arab local governments. There are a number of defects that repeat themselves every year, and it is important to make it clear that local government is responsible for a wide spectrum of important services and for the quality of life of each and every local citizen, including infrastructure, health and educational systems. In that context, it is necessary that the current norms of improper conduct in Arab local government in Israel be changed. Such change will improve the service provided to each citizen and further the general public interest."
What is the procedure for dealing with the defects you find in the conduct and organization of Arab local governments? Can the Arab citizens in Arab society in Israel rest assured about the management of the affairs of their cities and villages by the heads of the Arab localities?
"As I mentioned, In order to stop the severe defects from which the citizens of Arab localities suffer, and to intensify the sentiment of partnership between the Jewish and Arab populations, we launched a unique project for the Arab localities. In order to achieve the project's goals we are working to raise the awareness among the citizens of Arab localities regarding the areas of activity of the local government and the services for which it is responsible, to increase the demand for the good governance "product", and to put the issue on the agenda in all public frameworks. Thus, the citizens of Arab localities will act as an additional auditor, who can point out the local government's misconduct and demand that the situation be ameliorated. MQG is monitoring an increasing number of local governments, in order to reveal the defects and repair them, and to act promptly to prevent any phenomenon of corruption. In order to achieve these goals, MQG holds seminars for Arab attorneys on the subject of internal and external auditing mechanisms, and on advancement of good governance in local government; over 100 attorneys have participated in such seminars to date. We should mention that the seminar in Taybe was organized in partnership with the Liaison Office of the Central District of the Israel Bar, headed by of Rada Jabar, adv.; the seminar in Nazareth was organized in cooperation with the Northern District of the Israel Bar, headed by Haled Zoabi, adv.; and the seminar in Rahat was organized in cooperation with the "Tsad Kadima" registered society, under the supervision of Mr. Majad al Kamalat. This is also a good opportunity to encourage all citizens to approach MQG in order to create additional joint projects, which will surely benefit the general public."
Examples of Severe Defects in the Conduct of Arab Local Governments
Hayek presented a number of particularly severe defects in the conduct of Arab local governments, primarily regarding debts of local council members to the public fiscus. "Some of the defects appear every year in the auditing reports, including tax debts owed by some of the city council members for water and local property tax, contracts with external consultants without the approval of the city council, transfer of development budgets to the general operation budget instead of depositing them in separate bank accounts as required by law, water and local property tax collection levels that are most low, or failure to prepare internal auditing reports or bring them for debate before the municipal council. It is obvious that these defects cause a severe waste of public funds, which were entrusted in the hands of the local government as the trustee of the public. Moreover, that money was designated for the welfare of all the local citizens, but this improper conduct severely compromises the services provided to each and every one of the citizens."
To what extent can you monitor all of the actions of the local governments, while they are confronting complex problems that have been continuing for years?
"MQG is aware of the harsh reality in Arab local government specifically, and in local government in general, and thus we know that there are no magical solutions. Therefore, we are making efforts to raise the ethical standards of public representatives, to instill a culture of ethics in Israeli politics, and to raise the awareness of all citizens through broader public participation and encouragement of transparency in governmental activity. In this field, MQG runs the "Kav Hatohar" hotline, and any citizen who has discovered a defect or corruption can approach MQG, so that MQG can confront the issue. MQG examines the complaints it receives, and decides to direct the evidentially substantiated ones to the authorized agency, such as the police, the State Comptroller, or the Supreme Court. Each year, the number of complaints to the "Kav Hatohar" hotline increases, and these days we receive as many as 1000 complaints a year. Our objective is gradual advancement toward good governance that will lead directly to an improvement in the living conditions of the entire population."
Do you have explanations for all the existing problems, their causes, those responsible for their creation, and finding fitting solutions for them? Who has the solution – the Ministry of the Interior, the citizens, or the Mayor?
"At MQG, we believe that solutions for the problems in local government require action on the part of all the relevant actors: first, the Ministry of the Interior and the local government must exercise the powers granted them by law more often, and at the right time. For example, if the Ministry of the Interior would have exercised its powers during the years prior to the dissolving of the Taybe local council, the latter step could have been avoided. In addition, the central government must not discriminate against the Arab local governments, and must allocate funds to them which are equal to those allocated to the other local governments. Second, local government heads and the other elected local officials, who have a duty to ensure proper conduct in the local government, must ensure ethical conduct and refrain from corruption of any kind. Additionally, they must take personal responsibility if they have caused defective conduct that has led to losses of public funds. Third, but no less important, citizens must insist upon ethical conduct by local government heads and other local elected officials, thus acting as an additional auditor of the local government's activity. Joint activity by all those mentioned will bring about gradual improvement in the area of local government."
"The First Decision needed is to Involve the Citizenry"
Hayek refers to the recently published report of the State Comptroller: "the recent report of the State Comptroller points out several central defects in local government, including illegal contracting between factions in the local council, in which public funds were transferred to some of the council members – an act which is completely illegal – illegal forgiving of debts, and allocation of land to political cronies, friends or relatives in contradiction to the law on the issue. We should remember that those defects exist in all local governments and are not restricted to Arab local governments.
If you were a mayor, what would be your first decision under the existing circumstances?
"The first decision should be the decision to involve the citizens in the reality of their local government, in order to turn the citizenry into an additional auditor, and to turn good governance into a necessary "product" that benefits from high demand on the part of the citizens. Additionally, a number of changes should be decided upon in order to ensure proper conduct of the local government."
Is it your desire to become head of a local government?
"Today, that issue is not on the table, and I am still at the beginning of my professional career, and lack the required experience. But for the future, all the options are open, if the conditions are right."