Jul '10 18
A Lucrative and Influential Position? No Thanks…
By Abdulmohsen
I have recently read somewhere that to date, 18 people have rejected the prestigious post of the Chairman of the Capital Markets Authority. This could just be one of the most powerful financial jobs in Kuwait, perhaps second only to the Governor of the Kuwaiti Central Bank.This news snippet made me think, why would anyone refuse an offer as grand as this? I understand if one or two candidates refused it, but 18? It’s just not right…
From what I’ve heard, being the head of the CMA means family members will not be able to own shares of any kind. Maybe that’s the main reason why these candidates have rejected the offer. But if they accepted this job, then they would be adequately remunerated for not owning any shares. Maybe these people do not want to be in the spotlight and thus, on the firing line.
We could easily link these rejections with similar ones that the Prime Minister allegedly gets from prominent people when they’re offered a Minister’s office. This trend of avoiding influential and public jobs by many esteemed ladies and gentlemen is truly worrying because they are only offered this job because the employer (supposedly) believes they are the most competent in what they do. If the most competent person rejects, then the second most competent person will be offered the job. This process usually goes down the competency scale until they get someone who is willing to take the job. This would really deprive Kuwait of having the right people in the right places, a prerequisite to being a financial hub of the region.
I personally heard accusations of fear and that these people only refuse because they’re afraid of a possible public backlash and accusations from other people, especially MPs. In a sense, I don’t really blame them for fearing for their reputations but I believe that they should prioritize the benefit of Kuwait over any personal allegations, especially if they’re honest and hard working people. If they really did nothing wrong then they shouldn’t let these allegations distract them, you know, sticks and stones…
As I have previously mentioned, if the best people keep on refusing these vital positions, then Kuwait has lost their expertise. We are now facing an unprecedented multi-billion KD development program, I think now is the time we need them the most.
Comments
10 Responses to “A Lucrative and Influential Position? No Thanks…”
Leave a Reply
July 18th, 2010 @ 1:46 PM
I would think the main reason for these refusals is the corruption and dirty politics that you would have to endure when working this type of job..
July 18th, 2010 @ 1:46 PM
I loved your article. I guess at a personal level people think twice when getting a high position. Being attacked or losing benefits could be a problem for some.
However, there are many Kuwaitis out there that would take this position just to help with his expertise.
July 18th, 2010 @ 3:23 PM
perhaps there’s more reasons than meet the eye..
and if the holder of that position comes under scrutiny regardless of what decisions they make, if they know they will come under attack regardless of how beneficial their policies may be.. then i understand the rejection.
ps.. love these articles.. they get me thinking of conspiracy theories – thanks :D
July 18th, 2010 @ 3:39 PM
It doesnt take a brain surgeon to figure out the reason behind the rejection to this particular post — No one has the guts and the courage to implement the laws on the corrupt conglomerates in the stock market…and none of these candidates were biased by the way –
July 18th, 2010 @ 10:08 PM
f7ee7eely :I totally agree with wut u said amigo:)
July 19th, 2010 @ 10:26 AM
end of story , government has to occupy the position with someone dirty who wont be refusing such position
July 19th, 2010 @ 12:07 PM
I think one of the main reasons that any serious people are avoiding this post is because they can’t on the support of the rest of the government in doing their jobs freely. It will be a political post and not a technical or economic one and seeing how many times the government changes, you could lose it in an instant!
July 19th, 2010 @ 9:59 PM
Being at top means the first to be fired if anything goes wrong. It is a very lonely place that most wouldnt want to be at, and ofcourse, the fall is the steepest and its definetly not easy to get up, dust off and walk on if you survive the fall…
July 22nd, 2010 @ 3:38 PM
Nobody wants to deal with Al-Kharafi, Al-Ghanem Al-Bahar, and members of the Royal family who own a sizable portion of free float on the KSE.
July 25th, 2010 @ 3:38 AM
انا اقول لك ليش 18 شخص رفضوا المنصب ..
الله يسلمك حاطين شروط تعجيزية لمدير الهيئة..
واولها.. انة لا يملك اي اسهم ..
ولا يملك اي اعمال حرة
يعني يبون واحد ما عدة شي
شنو هالطلبات هذي ما ادري شكو حاطين هالشروط
لما سالت قالو لي عشان ما تشغلة امورة الاخرى
لا وبعد يبي لها جم سنة على ما تاسسس اذا هذي شروطهم