Posted on 12/11/2001 4:30:36 AM PST by veronica
Saudi Arabia has no need for democratic elections because they put unqualified people in power, an influential Saudi prince said Monday.
Prince Sultan Ben Turki, a businessman and nephew of King Fahd, said in an interview with the Associated Press that democracy did not fit the reality of Saudi Arabia, where the king rules and is advised by an appointed body, the shura council.
His comments are part of a quiet debate within the Saudi royal family on the sensitive topic of political reform.
The prince criticised the comments of his cousin, Prince Al Waleed Ben Talal, a billionaire businessman who called for elections in an interview last month with the New York Times.
He said Al Waleed's comments support Western interests and “those who oppose Saudi policies.” He did not elaborate.
The Saudi government holds that it practises an Islamic form of democracy through traditional consultation between ruler and ruled in informal gatherings. The founding Al Saud family dominates the country political structure, holding most of the important national and regional government posts.
“If the (Saudi) people were able to freely elect members of the shura council, they would not successfully choose members with sufficient expertise or experience,” sultan said, adding that in some countries “some candidates attain their seats by buying votes.”
“Saudis, no matter their social class, participate in policymaking through their daily face-to-face meetings with leaders of their communities and through discussions in the shura council,” Sultan said.
In May, King Fahd increased the number of members of the council from 90 to 120. It is the closest institution the kingdom has to a parliament, but its function is strictly advisory.
Sultan said the Saudi people fully support their leaders. From time to time there were Western calls for reform that were taken up by Saudis, but these calls were “ignorant” of the reality, he said.
Saudis understand the benefits of Western science and technology, but “we don't need to make our customs and traditions conform with Western social and behavior systems,” he added.
huh, i wonder what country he is referring to?
America's foreign policy is geared toward creating or preserving stability. That is more important to us than spreading the cause of freedom or the virtues of democracy.
Accordingly, you will not see America pushing for Saudi democracy anytime soon.
This will be their undoing.
I cant help but think he's hinting that Bush somehow bought votes...am I over analyzing?
There is nothing stable about countries that are governed by tyranny. Conservatives like you tend to make the mistake of assuming that maintaining the status quo of friendly foreign governments preserves "stability" while liberals tend to assume that rule by popular vote will make foreign countries more like us.
What you both forget is that what gives America its strength and prosperity is our traditional (albeit eroding) respect for responsible liberty. You can have majoritarian democracy without responsible liberty (eg. South Africa) and you can have responsible liberty in a monarchy. What the Middle East has traditionally lacked is an ethos which respects responsible liberty, and that is what we should be supporting there, not "stability" or "democracy".
He must have graduated from Harvard when J. Carter was president...
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