In a televised address, Fahd said a 60-member consultative council of leading businessmen, academics and clergy would be formed within six months. It will have no independent political authority, but can suggest new laws and advise the monarch in other ways. The king also outlined the country’s first Bill of Rights, which theoretically will give Saudis protection from arbitrary arrest and punishment by Islamic zealots and their religious police. And the 70-year-old Fahd, who is ailing, announced that the number of potential heirs to the throne would be expanded to include not only his remaining brothers but as many as 500 second-generation princes who until last week had not been considered members of the succession sweepstakes.
This is the first time the House of Saud has granted commoners a political role–and it is a clear political victory for the technocrats who run the kingdom’s vast oil industry and other businesses. They had redoubled their drive for modernization ever since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait made obvious Saudi Arabia’s need for Western protection. “Momentous events in the recent past have made it necessary to develop the country’s administrative structure,” the king said. The announcement also pleased Washington. “It should get Congress off our back,” said one Saudi official. And last week’s decrees weren’t the only sign of liberalization: with Fahd’s tacit blessing, a Saudi-financed television network has begun beaming snappy, Western-style news and entertainment programs throughout the Arab world from London. Still, Fahd reassured alarmed clerics who also have been galvanized by the war into unprecedented political action. “I have remained loyal to the faith under changing circumstances and conditions,” he said. “The Majlis [consultative council] amounts to redeveloping and modernizing a long-observed system.”
Indeed, the king still holds all the cards, including control of the nation’s mammoth oil revenues. And he is fully aware that the reform process could run away from him unless he keeps it that way. “The changes amount to nothing,” said a young building contractor in Dhahran. “Fahd will name a group of yes men.” Still, many Arab analysts were heartened. “A thousand-mile walk has to start with the first step,” Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel Meguid told NEWSWEEK. “From an Arab perspective it is a good beginning and I am very pleased. Do not expect us to go directly to a Western democratic system in a matter of days or months. This will take time.” A lot of time.
title: “Let The 1 000 Mile Walk Begin” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-28” author: “Misty Christopher”
In a televised address, Fahd said a 60-member consultative council of leading businessmen, academics and clergy would be formed within six months. It will have no independent political authority, but can suggest new laws and advise the monarch in other ways. The king also outlined the country’s first Bill of Rights, which theoretically will give Saudis protection from arbitrary arrest and punishment by Islamic zealots and their religious police. And the 70-year-old Fahd, who is ailing, announced that the number of potential heirs to the throne would be expanded to include not only his remaining brothers but as many as 500 second-generation princes who until last week had not been considered members of the succession sweepstakes.
This is the first time the House of Saud has granted commoners a political role–and it is a clear political victory for the technocrats who run the kingdom’s vast oil industry and other businesses. They had redoubled their drive for modernization ever since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait made obvious Saudi Arabia’s need for Western protection. “Momentous events in the recent past have made it necessary to develop the country’s administrative structure,” the king said. The announcement also pleased Washington. “It should get Congress off our back,” said one Saudi official. And last week’s decrees weren’t the only sign of liberalization: with Fahd’s tacit blessing, a Saudi-financed television network has begun beaming snappy, Western-style news and entertainment programs throughout the Arab world from London. Still, Fahd reassured alarmed clerics who also have been galvanized by the war into unprecedented political action. “I have remained loyal to the faith under changing circumstances and conditions,” he said. “The Majlis [consultative council] amounts to redeveloping and modernizing a long-observed system.”
Indeed, the king still holds all the cards, including control of the nation’s mammoth oil revenues. And he is fully aware that the reform process could run away from him unless he keeps it that way. “The changes amount to nothing,” said a young building contractor in Dhahran. “Fahd will name a group of yes men.” Still, many Arab analysts were heartened. “A thousand-mile walk has to start with the first step,” Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel Meguid told NEWSWEEK. “From an Arab perspective it is a good beginning and I am very pleased. Do not expect us to go directly to a Western democratic system in a matter of days or months. This will take time.” A lot of time.
