The Saudi Shourah (Consultative) Council has completed its second term with remarkable achievements. Arguably the most significant among them was the ending of Saudi Telecom’s (STC) monopoly of telecommunications. STC was a stumbling bloc on the way to rapid development of the sector. The company failed to meet the demands of the Arab world’s richest and largest market.
The council’s decision on the new insurance scheme affecting the owners of the Kingdom’s seven million cars is also a significant. Officials have been discussing the scheme for the past several years, unable for several reasons to reach a decision. It has now been settled by the Shoura Council which appointed a subcommittee of experts in financial matters and Shariah law. In the end, the council passed the bill by a large majority.
A prominent Saudi journalist recently asked the council chairman, Sheikh Muhammad ibn Jubair, how there could be meaningful debate in a body which was composed only of appointed, rather than elected, members. The chairman replied that though the council lacked an opposition party in the sense understood by political circles in most countries, each bill was nonetheless thoroughly discussed and there were always several members strongly opposed to its passage. On several occasions, the chairman added, bills had been passed by a single vote. It might well now be appropriate at the beginning of the council’s third term to ask why its proceedings cannot be televised. No doubt people are interested in discussions related to matters affecting their daily lives and basic requirements. The discussions behind the bills are significant because the participants are specialists in the area.
A distinguishing feature of the Saudi Shoura is that its members are experts drawn from various fields. On the other hand, members in an elected parliament are only winners of the largest number of votes. They normally win as much by skillful political and public-relations manipulation as by their experience or competence in any area of professional specialization. Debates on a bill or statute by experts in those fields would no doubt provide a different kind of experience from that found in discussions by other legislative bodies. Decisions related to such subjects as employment, insurance, telephones and electricity are of great concern to people. The decisions should not therefore be reduced to nothing more than brief official statements. People will be more amenable and understanding of what they are familiar with from having watched relevant discussions on TV. Without having seen the discussions, they might find it difficult to understand why the council has passed a new regulation, especially one involving an additional payment — such as car insurance. Hence the discussions in the council are of importance to all.
This does not mean that the public will rush to watch televised Shoura proceedings unless there is a matter of deep public interest. It is also significant and worthy of note — particularly in the light of reports concerning members of parliament in other countries. It seems that they fight among themselves — and we have not seen or heard of such in the Shoura. Nor, despite four years of heated argument and debate, have we heard of any Shoura member biting off anyone’s ear or giving anyone a bloody nose.
