FROM the time the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established, citizen could speak their thoughts and also hold face-to-face meetings with the rulers. All the Saudi kings held public meetings from which they became aware of what goes on in the Saudi street. As the country developed and faced more challenges, both on local and international arenas, it became obvious that changes are likely to take place with the times.

Before becoming king last August, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was well aware that such changes must take place through consensus, so he often held discussions and made extensive studies before taking any concrete action. As the world changed with the times, King Abdullah saw the necessity to initiate change internally. And the citizen saw the wisdom at the pace and the change envisaged. He met ranking citizens from varied sections of the in January 2003 and they presented to him their proposals for modifying certain of the Kingdom’s laws and systems.

“Your demands are my projects,” Abdullah told them.

Ever since that time it was clear that change was high on the agenda and would be the government’s focus. It was to push the debate on this sought after transformation forward that in August 2003 the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue was set up. The center’s goals were to expand citizens’ participation through open discussions on national issues related to economics, society, culture and politics. Also the center sought to bring in a wide spectrum of thought and they divided these debates into various foras where women, teens, public and private sectors and even students had they say.

“ It’s an opportunity, an open door to hear other people’s opinions. You may not agree with them but at least all will listen and respect the different views. That is the whole idea behind establishing the center,” said Dr. Rashed Al-Rajeh, vice president of the center.

According to Dr. Al-Rajeh participants at the dialogue are given complete freedom to present their thoughts, in a reasonable way. The only two subjects that were not up for debate were: Islamic belief, which the country’s system is based on, and national unity.

So far, the center has staged four forums with different topics. They are: Challenges facing National Unity, the Extremist Phenomena in Society, Women’s Position in Society and Ways to Improve it According to Islamic Views and finally Youth Issues: Facts and Aspiration. The meetings were held in different cities in Saudi Arabia.

The center keeps a database with names and resumes of all well-known Saudi personalities from both sexes. It includes writers, intellects, academics, businessmen and of course religious scholars. Their names are submitted to the center from both regional governors offices and Education departments. “We made a decision at the center that we should not repeat the same names more than once in order to give other people a chance to present their views.”

Before any forum takes place, several preparatory meetings take place in the Kingdom’s 13 regions. In these meetings citizens lay down the main points that are to be discussed in the next forum. Later, the people’s recommendations from all the regions are cleared and organized by a special committee at the center. Those suggestions consist major themes argued in the forum.

After the grand forum take place the participants meet the king and present their suggestions. Dr. Al-Rajeh explained that the proposals are to be documented and presented to higher authorities so that they can fully comprehend people’s demand in a clear way.

Prominent writer Qenan Al-Ghamdi, who participated at one of the forums, told Arab News that no limitations or redlines were imposed on the participants. Everyone was allowed to speak their minds freely. “Many bold and productive opinions were posed during my participation in the fourth dialogue that was about youth,” he added.

Qenan believed that what distinguishes the center the most is the way it gathers all Saudi sections under one roof, where each one accepts the other’s opinions. “The only problem is the center does not have a clear way to implement those suggestion,” he said, adding that perhaps as Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi pointed out once that the main purpose of forming the center is to make people practice to hold dialogue with others.

Another female participants Farida Farsi agreed with Qenan’s point of view. I personally think that the most important thing we learned from these forums is that it enabled us to meet with other Saudis whom we had not met or had the chance to know before,” she said.

She said that the forum acts more as an open window for Saudis, who sit and listen to others. Farsi said the forum achieved its aim mainly because it got all the differing sides together under a roof. Many among the participants came with set views and holding dogmatic positions that nothing would change it. But the forum got them to at least acknowledge that there are other views, and even if they were not ready to be swayed by it, they would at least accept the fact there are other opinions and those should at least be respected.

One more thing Farsi acknowledges is that the center documents all the participants views. “In this way we ensure that the coming generations will surely benefit from these forums,” Farsi said. The only thing that she hopes to see in the future is to see action taken on these suggestions.

“We hope that King Abdul Aziz Center plays its role in supporting freedom in exchanging ideas and views in national matters,” said businessman Jafar Al-Shayeb another participant in the national dialogue. He said that there must be programs other than the national dialogue to enforce the dialogue concept in our society.

— Published in Arab News Saudi National Supplement (Sept. 23, 2005).