Last Saturday’s meeting of the Shoura Council was extraordinary in both senses of the term — in the legal sense that it was not one of its regular meetings but specially summoned to hear an address from Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, but more importantly in the sense that it set the stage for what promises to be another evolutionary but groundbreaking shift in the Kingdom’s governance.
Prince Sultan’s declaration to the 120-member council that it should be developed and given further powers — not least his ringing statement that it exists to “monitor” and “supervise” the executive — provides an unmistakable sign that there is a consensus, indeed a determination, within the government that the time has come for the political process to be widened and made more responsive, more effective: the prince was not speaking in a private capacity; he did not just happen to call upon the Shoura. This was a carefully timed visit and his speech, carefully worded and carefully thought out, had the imprint of the crown prince — among others — upon it.
The knowledge that the government is serious about extending the powers of the Shoura will inevitably open a debate, in public and in private, as to what changes should be made. At present, the council, wholly appointed and all-male, is primarily advisory. It cannot, by its own constitution, initiate debate on issues; it has to await the submission of government reports and bills from the king or on his behalf. It is a reactive rather than proactive body. That said, although the government is not bound by its decisions, the Shoura Council sometimes amends government bills and in practice its decisions are respected and implemented.
The issue as to whether it should in future be able to initiate discussion on issues — such as water or even Iraq — rather than awaiting a report before giving its views has already surfaced as the central plank of the debate about its next stage of development. Any such change would, of course, require a rewriting of articles 15 and 23 of its constitution; the former controls what subjects may be discussed and the latter provides the very specific process by which the council president can ask the king’s permission for a debate on a subject after being petitioned by at least ten members. It may well be that these articles are rewritten.
Inevitably too, there are other issues that will be debated in public, such as how the members should be selected (should there be an element of election in the process?) and the role of women. Women too are citizens, with equal rights and much to contribute to the well-being and prosperity of the nation.
Whatever is decided, though, we can be assured that great thought will be given to any proposed changes; they will — they must — conform to the country’s religious and cultural traditions. The other tradition that needs to be treasured and guaranteed is consensus based on acceptance of the broad will of the majority: confrontational politics are not Saudi Arabia’s way and they must not become the way of an enhanced Shoura Council. On the other hand, it is very clear that the growing complexities of modern political and economic life make it humanly impossible to continue as in the past. Efficiency and effectiveness require that the load of listening and responding to the needs of a growing nation be spread. The government has recognized this. Greater participation by the Shoura Council in the political life of the country is the obvious — the only — answer. Change — evolutionary change — is clearly on its way. It can only be for the good. And it is also good that this issue is being debated, not just in the Shoura Council but in the Saudi media as well.