JEDDAH, 23 March 2004 — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has said that there will be no elections to the Shoura Council in the foreseeable future but the possibility is not ruled out if Saudis want them.

“Where elections are concerned, if their time comes and the Saudi people deem they are warranted, we will not fail” to hold a vote, the minister said.

Saudi Arabia will hold its first ever elections this year to elect half the members of new municipal councils. At the time the council vote was announced, reports also said elections would be held within three years to fill one third of the 120 seats of the Shoura, and that half the members of regional councils would be elected within two years.

Prince Sultan, after giving away the King Faisal Prizes in Riyadh on Sunday night, told reporters elections would open the doors of the council to people without proper qualifications. The authorities were concerned, he said, that elections might pave the way for some illiterate persons, albeit supported by their people, to join the Shoura.

“For the Shoura, we select people who are efficient, educated and cultured, and who are ready to devote their time to the service of their country,” he said. “But if the Saudi people think that it will be better to elect members of the Shoura, then the government will welcome and realize their desire.” The prince sidestepped the question whether women could join the Shoura. “I can tell you they are smarter than men,” he said. “The government will do everything possible for the service and development of women.”

Prince Sultan confirmed the municipal elections are going ahead. “Things are moving in the right direction,” he said.

Referring to the political campaigners arrested earlier this week, the defense minister said they were “outlaws who have revolted against their fathers and the country.”

“Five of them have been released. As for the rest, we pray to God to guide them (to the right path),” he said, without specifying how many remained in detention.

People need not fear arrest provided they adhere to Islamic teachings, work for national security and keep away from “deviant foreigners”, he added.

He dismissed a suggestion that the National Human Rights Association could take up the cause of the detained reformists. “The association was established not to help wrong-doers but to assist those who are treated unjustly,” he said.

Prince Sultan declared himself satisfied that Washington would not impose democratic reforms on any country in the region, blaming the “Jewish-controlled US media” for playing up a US “Greater Middle East Initiative” in a way likely to drive a wedge between Arab countries and the United States.

The defense minister also denied press reports that Pakistani troops had been stationed in the Kingdom.