Saudi TV series keeps up heat on corruption

A popular Saudi TV comedy, which has triggered religious controversy has stepped up its attack on corruption in the world’s oil superpower, is focusing this time on abuses by the Gulf country’s top brass.

Tash Ma Tash, aired by the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) satellite TV channel, has already triggered widespread criticism by religious leaders in the Gulf kingdom for boldly touching on some sensitive subjects in Islam, including Christianity and polygamy.

Thursday’s episode of the Arabic language series, which has been aired during Ramadan for the past 17 years, deals with corruption at Saudi municipalities and how influential persons try to manipulate these institutions to serve their interests.

“Tash Ma Tash actors continue to move deeper into the labyrinths of government establishments to expose financial and administrative corruption… in this episode, they again achieve great success in pinpointing the reasons that have led to such abuses in key sectors in the country,” Kabar newspaper said.

“This episode successfully highlighted the role played by some officials inside and outside the municipalities in pillaging public funds, deceiving the people, and manipulating public property and the interests of the citizens.”

The episode, watched in most Arab countries, opens with presumed municipality in a small town and its director, who tries to fight corruption and resists pressure from the town’s leaders and dignitaries to stop his attempts.

After their attempts fail, they met and decided to complain about him to higher authorities, claiming he is corrupt and is wasting public funds.

They then succeeded in replacing the “good” director with another one who is supposed to serve their personal interests, according to Kabar.

“They were happy with the new appointment and quickly went to congratulate him so he will support them and serve their private interests… but they were shocked to learn that he is honest and wants to reform the institution… they again used their relationship with influential persons,” the paper said.

“He tried to resist their pressure and succeeded in defeating their plans…but in the end, he finds himself face to face with much more powerful and influential personalities and become impotent, so he decides to give up.”

Kabar said the 30-minute episode succeeded in “highlighting part of the wrong practices in the kingdom’s provinces, towns and villages”.

“It also exposed the role played by dignitaries and other influential persons in undermining reform plans and in using their influence in making personal gains at the expense of the interests of the people and the country,” it said.

It was the second Tash Ma Tash episode in a week to handle corruption in Saudi Arabia and it follows a pledge by King Abdullah to combat this phenomenon.

The previous episode on Sunday was fully devoted to corruption in the kingdom as it showed a journalist trying to expose corrupt officials and businessmen but they try to bribe him to buy his silence.

“Tash Ma Tash struck at corruption tycoons in Saudi Arabia and there was a strong indication that government parties are involved in corruption.. the episode showed a major known company winning contracts without submitting tenders for the projects…it showed that company was making billions every year from the state budget,” Ikhbariat Arar newspaper said.

It said the journalist was then sacked from his job after a telephone call from an important “personality” which threatened to “stop all advertisements with the newspaper unless that journalist is fired”.

“This in fact happens quite often in real life in Saudi Arabia and all journalists in the country are well aware of this fact,” the paper said.

Early this week, a prominent Saudi Muslim cleric attacked MBC for transmitting Tash Ma Tash, which he described as an anti-Islamic programme after one episode showed a Muslim woman with four husbands, which is banned in Islam.

“This channel [MBC] is broadcasting poison and crime… it has nothing to do with Islam… how can this channel claim to be Muslim when it does not belong to Islam and is void of any Islamic spirit,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Hassan Al Durae, a senior teaching council member in the Riyadh-based Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University,

“They even do not care for those leaders [Saudi] who have struggled to serve Islam and Muslims… those in charge of this channels are nothing but criminals who are transmitting what they want and spreading their poison everywhere…what is more dangerous that destroying homes is to destroy ethics and beliefs…this channel is destroying ethics and beliefs.”

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