JEDDAH, 17 October 2003 — A senior official has said the government is planning to restructure 20 ministries and departments within a year.
“The new reforms will be as important as the municipal council elections,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Shaqawi, chairman of the preparatory panel of the Ministerial Committee for Administrative Organization.
“We have studied 21 government sectors, including the municipality sector. The main objective of this project is to widen popular participation, get rid of double standards and cut expenditure... We hope that the process can be completed this year, but final decisions may take longer,” Al-Madinah newspaper quoted Al-Shaqawi as saying.
Al-Shaqawi, who is director general of the Institute of Public Administration, said about 100 experts were involved in the studies related to the restructuring process.
The committee, chaired by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, is now finalizing studies on restructuring the Ministries of the Interior, Higher Education, Agriculture, Water and Health as well as the judiciary and the central supervising agency.
He said he expected the government would take a number of important decisions in the coming months.
“The decisions taken in the past reflect the government’s desire to bring about more reforms at various levels,” he pointed out. He said the restructuring studies also included plans to privatize some government agencies.
Al-Shaqawi described Monday’s Cabinet decision to hold partial municipal elections as “historic”.
“Saudi Arabia is making fast progress in administrative reform, keeping pace with international developments and preparing to join the World Trade Organization and other international bodies,” he said.
The official said the municipal elections would help citizens get involved in managing their own affairs.
“The decision (to hold) municipal elections came as a result of a year of study covering all aspects of municipal activities,” he said.
He said the question whether women would take part in the elections would be “decided later”. “Our mission was to set out the principles involving the reorganization process,” he added.
