Abdullah Seen As Promoter Of Change

RIYADH, 4 August 2005 — A cross-section of Saudis from different walks of life expect the new leadership to carry forward the reforms program set in motion by King Fahd in the economic, political and administrative fields.

“As crown prince, King Abdullah was instrumental in moving the Saudi nation toward social and political reforms, while giving a stable government in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Selwa Al-Hazzaa, chairwoman of the “Friends of Saudi Arabia” — a forum set up at the initiative of then Crown Prince Abdullah.

Dr. Al-Hazzaa, who was recently named as the “Arab Woman of the Year 2005,” said King Abdullah was revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights, as a promoter of change in Saudi society and as an advocate of brotherhood and racial equality.”

She emphasized that King Abdullah was the most important leader of Saudi Arabia so far as emancipation of women and women rights are concerned. King Abdullah, she said, “allowed Saudi women to participate in the National Dialogue.”

Dr. Al-Hazzaa lauded the efforts of the new king, who has always promoted women’s causes. Several rounds of dialogues were hosted by the Kingdom during the last couple of years to ensure more interaction among the youth of the country and to debate the role of the state in Saudi society, the necessity of social and political change and the overall responsibility of Saudi citizens.

Fahd Al-Athel, a prominent businessman, said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah should continue to inject greater transparency into the regulatory framework for economic reforms. Currently, he pointed out, some aspects of these regulations are vague and liable to misinterpretation. Codifying the law in precise terms would remove the element of vagueness about them.

He also expects King Abdullah to expedite the fast-track approach for processing investment proposals to prevent the flight of capital to neighboring countries.

In 2001, it was then Crown Prince Abdullah who appealed to wealthy Saudis to repatriate between $600 billion and $800 billion of assets they held overseas, the first time a senior member of the royal family had acknowledged the scale of exported capital.

Al-Athel said the Saudi leadership would continue to give attention to housing for the poor. After all, it was in October 2002 that then Crown Prince Abdullah had set up a committee to examine the causes and suggest a cure for the existence of widespread poverty among Saudi nationals. He expects large-scale housing to be provided for the economically underprivileged section of the Saudi society.

He said King Abdullah’s government should try to raise the standard of government hospitals on a par with the King Fahd National Guard Hospital. Such a move would enable government hospitals to handle complicated cases with confidence and a sense of professionalism.

“King Abdullah is probably the only leader, who has great respect for Arab culture and heritage,” said Hassan Abdul Haddad, another Saudi businessman.

Journalist Abdul Mohsen Al-Murshid said the setting up of free trade zones and IT parks is expected to receive greater attention from the government during the tenure of King Abdullah. It was due to his initiative that the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) launched its recent scheme under which one million Saudis would be provided with home PCs on an easy installments basis.

Asked if women would be allowed to drive, Abdul Mohsen M. Al-Mussab, a young Saudi, said such a possibility was remote. The issue, he pointed out, had already been ruled out by Interior Minister Prince Naif.

Muhammad Abdullah Al-Harbi said he would want the government to initiate reforms in the composition of the Shoura Council, so that besides the intelligentsia other educated Saudis could also become members of the Shoura and shed light on the real issues facing Saudis.

“That will change,” according to Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of the Kingdom Holding Co., who told the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel: “We are a conservative society. Municipal elections reported that only five to seven percent of eligible voters actually registered. There is undoubtedly a great deal of apathy in our society. People learn new ways very slowly.”

Asked if the government under King Abdullah should change its tack on the Saudization front, Al-Harbi said: “Yes.” According to him, the authorities could help Saudis gain jobs in the private sector by seeking to improve their English language and technical skills rather then compelling the private sector to hire them without a comprehensive action plan.

Abdullah Muhammad Attiq, a Saudi government employee, said the leadership should address the need for administrative reforms. He cited the administrative procedure that is rooted in the centralization of the decision-making process. “This practice should change in the interest of administrative efficiency, so that greater transparency is injected in governmental functioning.”

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