JEDDAH, 4 August 2005 — As citizens started pledging allegiance to King Abdullah in Riyadh yesterday, many did so in the hope that this new leader would move rapidly on reforms, especially those related to freedom of speech and democracy in government.
When King Fahd’s health began deteriorating in 1995, King Abdullah, crown prince at the time, was given a wider range of authority. He brought gradual change to many government institutions. He was well aware that such changes must happen through consensus, so he often held discussions and made extensive plans before any concrete action was taken.
Eventually, King Abdullah began to initiate internal political reforms. Reformists saw wisdom and responsibility toward the country in him and thus met with the king in January 2003 and presented to him their proposals for modifying certain of the Kingdom’s laws and systems.
“Your demands are my project,” Abdullah told the reformists.
Ever since that time it was clear that the topic of reform was high on the agenda and would be the center of attention for the government. It was to push the debate on reform 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 in open discussion on national issues related to economics, society, culture and politics.
Over the last two years the National Dialogue Center has held four meetings across the Kingdom in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Dhahran. At the meetings a wide variety of topics were discussed with religious scholars, intellectuals and youth invited to participate.
Now, Saudis are anxious for more reforms to take place. Several intellectuals and religious scholars expressed their immense optimism that reforms will pick up pace during King Abdullah’s reign.
Turki Al-Hamad, novelist and columnist, pointed out that it is important to differentiate between Prince Abdullah and King Abdullah. “During his time as crown prince, King Fahd had authorized him to run the Kingdom’s affairs. Abdullah was not performing to his full character,” Al-Hamad explained. “He is no longer a prince among princes. As we swear allegiance and promise to serve and obey him, King Abdullah now holds full authority. From now on Abdullah’s role will not be restricted to managing the country’s affairs. Certainly, he will be drawing up policy.”
Al-Hamad stressed that the most important reform that needed to take place in the near future is “building the country’s legal infrastructure.”
“There has to be a legal system that defines and clarifies duties and responsibilities between the ruler and the subjects. An accurate democratic process is a must in the coming stage,” he added.
Women’s issues are not detached from the reform scene. A Cabinet decision was made last year calling for increased job opportunities for Saudi women.
Dr. Suhaila Hammad, a senior member of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said: “Abdullah’s time will witness grand social shifts, specially those connected to women’s rights.”
She made reference to multiple achievements women gained while King Abdullah ran the country in Fahd’s time. “Women now have a presence in the executive committee of the Saudi Journalists Association (SJA). They have been appointed to diplomatic institutions and are participating in the chambers of commerce elections. Recently high positions were achieved by women; one became a member of the board of the Saudi Hollandi Bank and another was appointed deputy minister in the Ministry of Education.”
Dr. Suhaila Hammad emphasized that priorities for Saudi women are “to improve their situation in the judicial system by establishing family courts and the cancellation of legal guardianship in any action women undertake.”
King Abdullah has already shown that he is not only interested in reform at the organizational level. He has made gestures toward individuals that show clearly his deep concern for change. King Abdullah interfered personally in the court case of the Saudi writer Dr. Hamza Al-Mizeini, who was facing 275 lashes and four-months of imprisonment. Charges had been brought against Al-Mizeini by Dr. Abdullah Al-Barak. Dr. Al-Barak was a colleague of Dr. Al-Mizeini at King Saud University. Dr. Al-Barak claimed that Dr. Al-Mizeini defamed him and he accused Dr. Al-Mizeini of saying that Islamic textbooks taught at King Saud University were radical. Dr. Al-Barak had filed his suit after what might be described as a war of articles between the two professors that went on in Saudi newspapers for some months.
While the court did hear the case and issue a verdict, King Abdullah quashed the sentence. This was because the verdict conflicted with a royal decree stating that disputes regarding publication matters must be dealt with through the Ministry of Culture and Information. King Abdullah’s action in the matter laid emphasis on the importance of following rules and regulations and clearly confirmed that people must address issues through the proper channels.
Dr. Al-Mizeini expressed his absolute confidence in the king’s commitment to reform. “King Abdullah’s reform program is not strange to us. He opened the door for freedom of speech and initiated the national dialogue among members of society. All this openness deepened the nation’s unity and created room for loyalty toward the country.”
It is obvious that all Saudis concerned about reform hold high expectations for King Abdullah.
Amro Al-Faleh, son of Dr. Matrook Al-Faleh, one of three imprisoned reformists, said: “As all Saudis we are very optimistic in King Abdullah’s coming era, as he had already met with reformists and listened to their ideas.”
Time will tell. Yesterday King Abdullah said in his speech to all Saudis: “Citizens of Saudi Arabia I ask your assistance and guidance.” The coming days will confirm to the world the persistence of Saudi Arabia as a nation and government on pursuing reform on all levels. The question now is how swift and dramatic will it be?
