From World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures, ed. George Thomas Kurian. 2 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1998), 587-588.

SAUDI ARABIA

OFFICIAL NAME: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (al-Mamlakah al-[ayn]Arabiyah al-Su[ayn]udiyah) capital: Riyadh

POPULATION: 19,409,000 (1996 est.)

DATE OF INDEPENDENCE: September 23, 1932 (unified kingdom established)

DATE OF CURRENT CONSTITUTION: None

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Absolute monarchy

LANGUAGE: Arabic

MONETARY UNIT: Riyal

FISCAL YEAR: Calendar year

LEGISLATURE: Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura)

NUMBER OF CHAMBERS: One

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 61 (appointed)

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN: 0.0

TERM OF LEGISLATURE: Four years

Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich absolute monarchy on the Arabian Peninsula, has been ruled since 1982 by King Fahd ibn [ayn]Abd al-[ayn]Aziz al-Sa[ayn]ud. Since 1953 the Saudi monarchy has been advised on policy and administration by a royally appointed Council of Ministers. In response to domestic unrest following the 1991 Persian Gulf War and pressure for democratization from the kingdom's Western allies, King Fahd published three decrees on March 1, 1992, liberalizing somewhat the political regime. The decrees defined the Saudi system of government, authorized the appointment of a consultative council, enhanced the powers of municipal administration, defined the rules of royal succession, and circumscribed the powers of the religious police. Some elements of these decrees, totaling eighty-three articles and collectively referred to as the "Basic System of Government," represented reforms that had been promised by the monarchy thirty years earlier but never implemented.

NORMATIVE FEATURES OF THE COUNCIL

The first thirty articles of the decrees concerned the Consultative Council. The Council comprises a chairman and sixty members appointed by the king from among scholars and "men of knowledge and expertise." Members must be Saudi nationals age thirty or older and residing in the kingdom, and they have the right to apply to the king to resign their membership on the Council. Vacancies are filled by royal appointment. Members may not hold any other government post or manage any other company without permission of the king.

The work of the Council is managed by the chairman, his deputy, and the secretary general. All are royally appointed, and their duties, rights, and remuneration were the subject of a royal decree of August 20, 1993. The chairman supervises the work and debates of the Council, presides over its sessions and any committee meetings that he attends, opens and closes sessions, participates in the discussion, and maintains order. He may convene emergency sessions of the whole body or of any committee. The deputy chairman serves in the absence of the chairman. The secretary general is responsible for the minutes, the financial and administrative affairs of the Council, and notifying members of sessions and the agenda.

The term of the Council is four years. A new Council, in which at least one-half of the members must not have served on the prior Council, normally is formed two months before the term of the old Council expires. If that is not feasible, for any reason, the session of the sitting Council is extended. According to the decree of March 1, 1992, the king or an emissary of the king is to deliver an annual speech to the Consultative Council on the kingdom's domestic and foreign policies.

The Council is granted the authority to express its opinion on matters referred to it by the Council of Ministers, including economic and social development plans, international agreements of all types, laws, and annual government reports submitted by the individual ministries. The quorum is set at two-thirds of the membership, and decisions are approved by a majority vote. Decisions of the Consultative Council are submitted to the Council of Ministers, but in all cases, final decisions are the prerogative of the king.

The Council is permitted to form committees as it deems necessary, and those committees may, with approval of the chairman, enlist outside support. Government officials may be summoned to appear before the Council via requests submitted by the Consultative Council chairman to the chairman of the Council of Ministers. Government documents can be acquired in the same manner.

Draft laws or amendments may be initiated by any ten Council members. Proposals are forwarded to the king by the chairman of the Consultative Council.

Members of the Council receive 20,000 riyals per month and receive the same benefits as high-level civil servants. Council members who were full-time public employees prior to Council service are paid the higher of their prior salary or the Council salary, according to an August 20, 1993, membership statute. Members who violate their duties are subject to written censure, a fine equal to one-month's salary, or expulsion from the Council. The first two penalties can be imposed by the Council after investigation by a three-member committee of the Council and adjudication by another committee of three Council members. Expulsion can be ordered only by the king, on the recommendation of the Consultative Council and prime minister.

All internal operations of the Consultative Council, including sessions, procedures, organization, structure, and status of members, are subject to change through royal decree. Likewise, the budget of the Council is appropriated and expended at the discretion of the monarch. The Council must submit a written annual report on its operations to the king.

NOMINAL COUNCIL OPERATIONS AND OTHER REFORMS

King Fahd was originally to have appointed the sixty-one members of the Consultative Council within six months of the March 1992 decree. In September of that year, he named Justice Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Jubair as the Council speaker, but the remaining members were not announced until August 1993. The Consultative Council convened for the first time on December 29, 1993.

The Consultative Council, which meets at least two times per week, was a disappointment to the more liberal elements of Saudi society, who had hoped for a more democratic, elective legislature with some vestige of authority. It was never King Fahd's intention, however, to create a Western-style democracy, and the members are enjoined from raising any issue for debate that contravenes the public interest (as defined by the government). On the other hand, though, the Council was novel in that its entire membership was drawn from outside the ruling family; no members of al-Saud were named to the Council. Furthermore, it was more representative of society than some had thought likely; although all were royalists, the members included businessmen, former military officers, university professors, and religious authorities and government officials. No women serve on the Council.

The forty-article Regional Authorities Establishment Act, a royal decree issued on March 1, 1992, along with the decree that authorized the Consultative Council, strengthened and revamped regional administration. The decree ordered the creation of regional consultative councils in each of the fourteen provinces, to advise the provincial emir. Each council consists of the emir as chairman, the deputy emir as deputy chairman, the emir's assistant, the heads of regional government bodies, and no fewer than ten residents. The residents, to be men of experience and specialization, serve renewable four-year terms. The scope of debate in the regional councils is circumscribed by the royal decree that created them.

CONCLUSION

The Consultative Council plays strictly an advisory role to the Council of Ministers and the king; it does not have legislative powers. Legislation in Saudi Arabia is enacted by royal decree and must follow the tenets of the Qur[hamza]an and the hadith-sunnah, the chronicled sayings and traditions of the prophet Muhammad. Judges appointed by the ulama, Islamic religious leaders, head a system of religious courts. The king serves as the highest court of appeal and has the right to issue pardons. Political parties, labor unions, professional associations, and non-Islamic religious ceremonies are banned. The media exercises self-censorship.