As witness to the major political transformation experienced by the Kingdom over the past 30 years, Arab News reported, monitored and recorded every political development Saudi Arabia has undergone.

In fact, in its first issue dated, April 20, 1975, the lead story of our newspaper was an exclusive report on a mini-Arab summit conference hosted by the Kingdom. The summit, held on April 21, was attended by the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, the late King Khaled, President Anwar Sadat and King Hussein.

From the newspaper’s first edition in 1975 until now, change has touched almost every aspect of life in the Kingdom. Observers of the Saudi political scene agree that the old ways of dealing with political demands — a combination of oil largesse and security crackdowns — is no longer adequate.

Significant political steps have since been taken, and observers predict even more important steps. The change the Kingdom has witnessed over the past three decades is evident in the series of measures that have been introduced in the political, economic and judicial arenas to ensure continued development through a process of streamlining. The most important are the “National Dialogue” meetings sponsored by the government over the past months that have included women, youth, intellectuals, religious leaders and others. No doubt, the National Dialogue Forum, as the drive is known, is the most tangible evidence yet of the government’s commitment to fostering a more pluralistic and tolerant notion of what it means to be a Saudi citizen and to allow more open debate in the country. In October 2003, the government announced a limited electoral initiative in which half of the members of municipal councils were to be chosen by popular vote. The first two phases of the election have taken place; the third and the final phase is planned for later this month.

The trend of events should not be described as overwhelmingly liberal. The Saudi leadership has repeatedly stated that its approach to addressing the pressing issues and other problems facing the country is to continue to seek a balance among domestic constituencies, foreign considerations and its own notions of what needs to be done.

Of course, there will always be the pessimism and optimism about the prospects for change, but there are also those who end up somewhere in the middle. It should, however, be noted that the Saudi system of government, as defined under the Basic System and the establishment of the Shoura Council, is neither a move toward Western-style democracy nor an imitation of any Western-style democratic reform.

The theme of the entire system can be found in the organic development of the Shoura basis of the relationship between the leader and the people that is inherent in Islamic tradition, where the whole process rotates around the majlis or audience. In its simplest form the majlis is a kind of consultative session that provides an opportunity for all Saudi citizens to present their cases.

The Basic System spelled out the general principles on which the Kingdom was founded, with the central tenets being that Saudi Arabia is an Arab and Islamic Sovereign State; its religion is Islam and its constitution is the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah (teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him).

It was in line with the tradition adopted by his predecessors that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd has in the course of his reign embraced and extended the Shoura Council. In 1992, the king set up Majlis Al-Shoura of 60 members. This marked a significant move toward the formalization of the participative nature of government in Saudi Arabia. This was accompanied by details of a new Basic Law for the system of government, which clearly marked the first steps toward a more formal, broadly based involvement in the Kingdom’s political processes. The Shoura Council now has 120 members. In 2001, the number was increased to 120. In practice, members of the council are able to initiate legislation and review the domestic and foreign policies of the government. Any government action not approved by the council has to be referred to the king.

The reforms in Regional Government had the precise purpose of enhancing the level of administrative and developmental work in the Kingdom’s 13 administrative regions, while preserving security and order and ensuring the rights of citizens. The structure of regional government and the composition of the regional governing bodies and regional councils is evidence of the king’s determination to increase the involvement of the citizenry in the government.

Change is profoundly felt in the economic area. Over the past years the country has been busy doing away with outdated economic measures in favor of swift decision-making to attract foreign investment. A Supreme Economic Council to oversee economic policy was established headed by Crown Prince Abdullah; a new Foreign Investment Law introduced allowing foreign investors full ownership of projects and their related property, tax breaks and for the first time the right to sponsor their employees instead of having to seek a Saudi sponsor; the country’s huge energy sector was opened to foreign oil companies; new labor regulations were formulated, allowing expatriate workers free movement within the Kingdom; a higher tourism authority headed by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, was set up to promote and secure tourism; and Umrah (minor pilgrimage) regulations were eased, allowing pilgrims to come to the Kingdom any time through the year. The goal is to attract as many as 10 million Umrah visitors yearly in addition to the 1.5 million or so who come for the annual Haj.

In the judicial arena two bills were passed regulating the rights of defendants and suspects before courts and the police and governing legal practice in the country. The government last month announced sweeping changes in the judicial system that for the first time established a supreme court, courts of appeal and specialized courts for labor that primarily will serve the large expatriate community in the Kingdom as well as commercial courts to settle commercial and personal disputes. The new move has set the stage for legal procedures to amend existing regulations and usher in a new system with a more efficient delivery of justice.

The courts of cassation have been annulled and replaced with new courts of appeal to review lower court verdicts. Justice Minister Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al-Asheikh said the new system will improve the performance of the judicial mechanism.

(Abdul Wahab Bashir is our senior reporter. He joined Arab News in 1988.)