The Saudi Arabian Political System - Case Study Example

Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0.Introduction 3 2.0.The Saudi Arabian political system 4 2.0.1. The reforms 8 3.0.Comparison to Local government empowerment in Philippines, Indonesia and India 11 3.0.1. Philippines 11 3.0.2. Indonesia 11 3.0.3. India 12 4.0.The requirements for a fiscal decentralization process 13 5.0.Impediments to the local empowerment in Saudi Arabia 14 6.0.The proposed local empowerment system 16 7.0.Avenues for public participation 18 8.0.Advantages and disadvantages of local Participation/empowerment 19 9.0.Recommendations 21 References 22 1.0. Introduction Since its inception in 1932, Saudi Arabia had minimal participation of the public in its written constitution and its decision making and policy processes. The rulers have been under immense pressure to have its laws amended and include components that would increase public decision making. The rulers in the kingdom aimed at facilitating reforms to have the powers of the judiciary, executive and legislative separated and have the transparency of the government increased. The quest for the reforms was not to be as a result of the international pressure but a free will by the authorities to have the public participation system in the running of the government to be a reality. This was not represented in the basic laws of the kingdom as the laws only pointed out the government system, residents’ and citizens’ rights and the government’s duties and powers. Much of the judgments are based on the Sharia law derived from the Islamic religion, Quran (Albassam, p. 175). The public participation in the kingdom’s policy process is projected to ensure a continued political stability and have the rulers’ legitimacy legitimized. This is viewed to have the perception of the country as being ruled by a group who are a minority that consists of the royal family be eliminated and have an all inclusive government. In addition, the process will witness the inclusion of the people’s voice in the monitoring and running of the official works of the public. The reforms to have the policy process an all inclusive will further conceive a long term strategy in the quest to organize the country’s political system. Thus having a clear and all inclusive constitution will have an elaborate strategy of how the political powers are to be transferred between the generations of the royal family (Albadi, p. 256). The paper will quest to provide an overview of local empowerment in India, Indonesia, and Philippines and its impact to the government system to the country. The paper will address the lessons that could be learnt from the experiences in the three countries while at the same time addressing the pros and cons of experiencing the local empowerment. The paper will also strive to prove that the local empowerment will have a systematic top level government and attain political reforms that are effective and real. The paper will also discuss the political reforms that the monarchy has made since 1992 and address the reasons behind the introduction of the reforms. The paper will begin with addressing the political system of the kingdom. 2.0. The Saudi Arabian political system Saudi Arabia has a king as the ruler and commander in chief of the armed military of the monarchy that is based on the Islamic law. The king heads the appeal court where he is assigned the judicial roles which include the pardoning of offences. He has the responsibility if appointing the crown prince who is to hail from the royal family. The crown prince is to help the king in the implementation of his day to day activities and is the hire to the throne. The king governs the kingdom with aid from the minister’s council i.e. the cabinet, which heads 29 ministries and are appointed by the king himself. The council has the legislative and executive powers and are responsible for the making of the foreign and domestic policies in education, finance, economics and defence. They are also to make decisions on the same policies and supervise their implementations and all the other affairs of the government (Albassam, p. 178). The kingdom is divided into 13 provinces which are headed by governors who are appointed by the king. All the counties have their own councils appointed by the king and are to advise the governors in the various provinces. The provincial governments are to enforce the laws that have been adopted and issued by the Saudi’s central government. The governors have a service term for 4 years which are renewable. The provinces send project proposals to the various ministries which are to decide on the projects that are to be prioritized. The ministries are to send the proposed project budgets to the finance ministry which is to analyse them based on the forecasted revenues as well as the expenditures and send them to the king and the Prime Minister council for approvals. The procedure for forwarding the proposals originates from the provinces ministry to the capital ministry then it is submitted to the finance ministry which later submits it to the prime minister’s council that approves it. The councils are to send the proposals separately and not as a unit. From this we also learn that all the projects suggested are not public inclusive as the only elements involved in their drafting are those that are in the governing bracket. The modes of collection of ideas made it hard to have more participation from the public (Albassam, p. 179). The country lacks a drafted constitution for the political system for the kingdom and is based on the Islamic law which are embedded in the Quran and Sunnah which consist of the actions and speeches of the prophet Mohammed. This implies that the basic constitution that is used in the country is the Quran. The Quran supports public participation in the running and decision making, thus the government is obliged to increase their participation (Albassam, p. 189). According to the Quran, the public has the authority in choosing the leadership they want and absolute power only comes from God a system that is not observed in the kingdom’s political system. The support of the public participation and inclusion in the making of decisions is also contained in the Sunnah. The Sunnah also proposes the election of rulers through a democratic process a practice which is not practised in the royal government of Saudi Arabia. The realization by a section of religious leaders, professors and some politicians saw the need to have the political system reformed by the king. The petition among other issues pointed out the need for there to be an increase in public participation in the government running and the need to fight corruption. The increase of the participation of the public in the running of the government will witness the crucial role of monitoring the daily activities of the government by the public. In addition, the reforms to have a formal written constitution will aid in addressing the citizens’ and rulers’ relationship and decrease the high rate of corruption in the government (Aba-Namay, p.259). The details of the functions and roles of the government and its implementers will be made known and regulate its working in order to avoid the perceived deficiencies. Much of the reform pressure came as a result of the government not being able to prevent itself from the Iraqi army and had to call in the international governments to aid. The urge for the reforms in the political system of the country was instigated by the need for the country not to be thought of being a supporter of terrorism given that the hijackers of the planes during the 2001 bombing in the USA were from Saudi Arabia. Secondly, ageing of the rulers who include the king and the crown prince are in the 70s and 80s thus the need to have a chosen replacement for them. Thirdly, the rate of unemployment which in 2008 stood at 12% given its growth rate which stood at 2.3% was alarming. It is also realized that the percentage rate of the persons under the age of 14 has continued growing and was reported to be 45% and those under the age of 29 reported to be representing 73% of the total population as recorded in 2007 (Aba-Namay, p.259). This has placed the government under a challenge of job creation that is sufficient to meet the growing numbers and the needs of the new generation that has seen the demand for their inclusive participation in the government affairs. The conflicts that could erupt in the family could have far reaching implications to the stability of the country and its political system. The written constitution would be able to act as a guide or source of reference in solving problems in the event of a political upheaval. 2.0.1. The reforms The royal government lead by the king realized the need to have the political reforms in three premises which included increasing public participation in the policy processes, draft a written constitution to organize and guide the Saudi Arabian political system thirdly to fight the rampant corruption in all the existing political systems of the country. This demonstrated the rulers’ recognition the shortcomings in the existing political system thus the need to fill the gaps and form a basis of the restoration of political order in the country. This saw the reforms by King Fahad in the consultative council law, the provincial law and the government law. The reforms aimed at composing of the first constitution in the country and at introducing the basic law that was to reaffirm the monarchy in Saudi Arabia the structure of government. The basic law contains 9 chapters in which the governmental structure whose rule is to pass through the male descendants. The other chapters gave a structural description and the functions of the judicial, legislative and the executive. In addition to these, the functions and structural role of the regulatory authorities was given in the other chapters of the basic law (Aba-Namay, p.269). The reforms gave a cautious approach into the inclusion of the public participation as the governmental powers were restructured and the consultative council was since established. In addition, the number of the council was increased to 150 members up from 60 by 2008. The assembly was to be the policy adviser to the king. Despite all these reforms, the consultative council had no powers to legislate the laws provided by the king and had only to deliberate on the studies that were provided by the king thus, they were just think tanks. The third statute divided the 13 provinces into governorates a move that was perceived at ending the corruption that existed in the system and tighten the government’s control over the financial matters in the provinces and thus decentralizing part of the duties of the central government. These reforms served little contribution to increase the participation of the public in the running of the governmental affairs including the major functions of the decision making process but rather concentrated the powers in the hands of the king and the royal family. The public were not included in the policy processes and were not able to hold the rulers and other government officials accountable for the work that they performed. Most of the reforms initiated by king Abdullah were mainly economical and less political. Despite him having the same aspirations of having an all inclusive government, this was not to be as most of the reforms that he made zeroed in on the massing up of the country’s control to the royal monarch and protecting their state of rule (Middle East Watch, p. 154). The previous reforms geared towards the improvement and increasing efficiency in the industrial sector. The five year plan between 2005 and 2009 aimed at increasing domestic and foreign investment in order to diversify the economy and develop the human resources. The kingdom had a high financial input in 2009 of $ 126.7 billion that aimed at enhancing the employment opportunities and creating jobs for the many unemployed youth and improvement of the infrastructure as well as other social services (Niblock, p. 124). Economic indicators 2004 2005 2006 2007 GDP $ mn. 250338.9 315580 356630.4 383586.7 Growth of GDP % 5.3 5.6 3.2 3.4 Inflation (CPI) % 0.3 0.7 2.2 4.2 Unemployment % - - 6.3 5.6 Foreign direct investment % of GDP -0.1 0.1 0.2 -2.1 Export growth % - - - - Import growth % - - - - Current account balance $ mn. 51926.0 90060.2 99066.1 95080.2 Public debt $ mn. - - - - External debt $ mn. - - - - Total debt service % of GNI - - - - Cash surplus or deficit % of GDP - - - - Tax Revenue % of GDP - - - - Government consumption % of GDP 23.6 22.2 23.3 22.4 Public expnd. on edu. % of GDP 6.8 - - - Public expnd. on health % of GDP 2.6 2.6 2.5 - R&D expenditure % of GDP 0.1 - - - Military expenditure % of GDP 8.4 8.0 8.3 9.2 Sources: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2009 | UNESCO Institute for Statistics | International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market Database | Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Available at: http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/137.0.html?L=1 3.0. Comparison to Local government empowerment in Philippines, Indonesia and India 3.0.1. Philippines The country has significantly moved into the fiscal decentralization local government system. The 1987 constitution included the strategies through which the autonomous local government are to work. The national sectoral departments are required to organize devolving plans for services that had been performed in the local and provisional governments. The responsibilities of the various public services are to be shifted and be concentrated in the local government. The funds of the local government are to be distributed in a clear and transparent manner. The specific percentages are expected to be divided based on a given mode and formula among the local government tiers. The formula is based on the land size, population and the other factors. The local government are to also get the inter-governmental grants based on agreed critical fiscal decentralization aspects. The Philippines are involved all through the implementation process through various forums which include meetings and surveys. The policies that have been drafted are a great roadmap that the local government use to ensure the administrative elements are accountable of their duties (Schroeder, p. 357). 3.0.2. Indonesia The rationale for the decentralization process in the country is to ensure the continuity of unity and the promotion of national economic prosperity in the populous nation. The decentralization process in the country does not have a constitutional basis thus forming the basis of the policy initiatives that are to be contained in the statutes. Tis witnessed the drafting and passing into law the new laws that is to guide the public participation process. Most of the radical changes involved the adoption of policies that are in relation to the fiscal relations of the inter government. The region heavily relied on the governmental transfers and has a strong way through which they learn from the past experiences as they maximize on the best practices. This has been an important role for the government to adopt the decentralization mode of government as the region is diverse and needs the process to be able to decrease the discontentedness that was being experienced in some regions (Schroeder, p. 358).. 3.0.3. India The counties in the country are assigned particular and specific roles in line with the Indian constitution that is reflective of principles of a decentralized government. The government in charge of providing fiscal support to the various regions depending on the size and the disparities that exist in the particular region. The provinces get their fiscal financing from revenues that are collected from the various council charges and penalties on certain activities including tourism. This has since been important in the amassing and accumulation of human capital within the various provinces that is used in the development of the suggested projects and in close collaboration and partnership with the local people. The local council has efficiency rules equivalent to the performance contract that aid in the accountability of the various activities that are to implement the projected local activities. The country mainly utilizes the surveys and meetings to assess and prioritise projects that are of much need to the population. The process comes with immense support from the government as accorded in the country’s constitution (Schroeder, p. 362). 4.0. The requirements for a fiscal decentralization process There is no standardized solution to having a perfect financial government. It is however vital to note that fro any fiscal decentralization process to be successful, there has to be a plan and a number of factors to be considered. To begin with the legal and political must be supportive of the idea. The local governments are to be independent and have a mandate in addition to the responsibilities and legal provisions that are to be clearly defined in a constitution. The general commitment of the government and the political system is necessary for the success of the decentralization process. The decisions made are to originate and be owned by the local public who are represented by the local government. The transfer of powers is to be transparent and without interferences from the political systems that exist (Stegarescu, p. 346). Secondly, the obligation of any person dealing with the public funds activities is to be for the actual use of the proposed and intended reason. There has to be a system and strategies through which the persons in charge are to be held accountable for the activities they undertake on behalf of the public. The information in regards to the budget and any other decisions are to be made available to the public and have to be clear. A clear auditing process that is independent of the local and governmental influence is to help in the monitoring of the local governments financial activities (Stegarescu, p. 347). Thirdly, the public are to be empowered through building their capacity on their functions in the local government. This should also apply to the personnel in the local government who are to be empowered with the technical and other managerial capacity that will aid them to undertake the duties that they have been entrusted with. The administrators are to be educated on the appropriate modes through which the local government is to collect the views and opinions of the greater public on the projects and the provincial areas that are to be given priority. It is also vital to note that the public are the owners of the projects. This implies that the decisions are to originate from the public and they are to suggest and have a say in the selection process of the persons that are to be mandated to run the local government. The overall government is to encourage creativity and competitiveness among the local governments so as to realize meaningful regional growth and sustainability (Voorhees, p. 387). 5.0. Impediments to the local empowerment in Saudi Arabia The country recorded a high of 3.5 out of the total 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represented a highly corrupt state and 1 the less corrupted according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) conducted by the Transparency International (TI) in 2008. This is a scale used by TI to measure the level of corruption in the country as well as the evaluation of the efforts that the government employs in the fight against graft (Looney, p. 7). The citizens are not empowered on the existing procedures to hold the public servants and other local agencies accountable and trace their violations (Qobo, p. 14). Thus, the government agencies that are meant to assess and foresee the implementation and controlling and monitoring of the activities of the government is not effective in carrying out its mandate. The authorities and agencies mandated to monitor the fiscal and administrative activities which include the General Auditing Bureau have the consultative role and no executive powers to have the government agencies answerable to their actions (Sadi, p. 10). The system lacks checking system for the king thus the practicing of the reforms introduced in 1992 to 2010 is at a slow progress. The involvement of the public in the running of the political affairs is minimal as some of the mechanism are not set and respected. The public is ignorant to the perceived change. The nation and the people had no experience in democracy as they never practiced it. The reforms would have begun with the creation of awareness to the public thus the strategy employed in to the aims and functions of the people in public participation and increasing the role of accountability by the government officials. The government on the other hand would have seen the need to educate the government as well as the other agencies on their role in the local government empowerment process and the public in general on their role in the participation process. 6.0. The proposed local empowerment system The Saudi political reforms proposed a national budget with minimal public participation. The local budget submitted buy the governors was debated and allocated by the council at the national budget which has more powers from the monarchy. Such fiscal reforms would do little in creating accountability as there are no clear checks and balances for the system. In this case, instead of only having a national budget the 13 provinces will have a secondary local budget. The national budgetary processes are to stay the same and have to be determined and implemented by the cabinet. The local budget is to determine the local budget submitted to them by the provincial council on the following conditions; The population of the province Size of the province The revenues of the province Budgetary constraints A local legislative body is to be constituted which will be mandated to monitor the local budget spending and its implementation to the various provinces. The local legislative body is to be given the powers to hold the implementers responsible and accountable for the activities. It is to be in charge of drafting the budgetary proposals for the provinces and have them forwarded to the governor for approval. The council will be selected based on the local elections (35 members) and appointment by the King in collaboration with the governor (15 members). The appointment of the 15 members of the council by the king in collaboration with the governor is to minimize the possibility of dominance of the council by the elected members (Olken, p. 210). It is vital to note that the local council will be empowered to be able to identify their role in public participation. The national budget will still remain to be able to cover for the projects that are not covered by the local budget. The national budget will give the provincial council to be flexible and have control in the allocation of its resources. This will witness the increase in productivity in the provinces as they compete amongst each other. The national budget is also to assist the provincial budgets with unforseen natural or artificial disasters that the council might not be prepared for (Olken, p. 214). The local council will be a representation for the province’s people thus able to increase local public participation. This will be able to increase the accountability and transparency levels and give the public a sense of responsibility over the running of the local provincial activities. The local provincial council will be at a better place to identify the needs of the population and the projects to be given priority. The finances for the local budget are to be acquired from the central government which will avail a fixed amount of money and provincial revenues. The provincial revenues are to be collected from the municipal and rural licensing fee, fines from penalties, municipal services fee, tourism fee, tourism and donations (Olken, p. 216). 7.0. Avenues for public participation The local council is to organize public meetings where the public members will be encouraged to attend. The meetings will be a good avenue where the public are to be notified and educated on their roles in the local government. The forums are a mode through which the public and the local council are to discuss ideas and approaches. This will create a possible route where the widespread perspectives and inputs will be obtained. Other forms of communication would be through news letters that is new and reliable for dispensing information at a much faster rate. Members of the public would also participate through focus group discussions, surveys, media which will include the social networks. The public has to be educated on the effective use of IT (Schroeder, p. 125). In conclusion, local empowerment has great benefits to the country if the effective strategies and resources are available and appropriately distributed. The mode is a means through which regional inequality can be eliminated. However, the process needs to have a blessing and support from the political system as the local can never be empowered if the political reforms are not effected and practised. It is through sound political reforms in Saudi Arabia that the country will be able to realize meaningful and strategic local empowerment (Shah, p. 125). 8.0. Advantages and disadvantages of local Participation/empowerment Local participation is vital as the people are the development’s primary ingredient. The approach is able to identify the expertise and knowledge of the people as they contribute towards the development of their local counties as their skills are developed through the participation process. The programs to be implemented will have a direct backing from the local community will feel empowered and in control of their destiny. Through the participation, it will be realized that the expertise is a public resource and not the product. Persons are able to have personal growth and control through self reliance. The power to be able to participate will have the ideals, values and expectations of the community to be conforming to the objectives of the nation (Ribot, p. 213). In addition, local empowerment is able to decrease regional inequalities as it aims to have local provinces and regions to have rapid development which is enhanced as the councils compete against each other. The programs on the other hand will be highly sustainable as the population will have measures to hold the administrative and implementers arm highly accountable for their activities. This process will be able to enhance credibility and trust that will be earned through empathy and performance contracts. The local governments will be able to have better designs for their programs as well as a much more and improved utilization of the identified resources and facilities. Corporation is also likely to scale up the rates of innovations as well as improvement in the organizational structures. If the process has the relevant and effective strategies put down, the process is likely to decrease misunderstandings and conflicts (Ribot, p. 215). . Moreover, the process will be able to have experts to take control of the local councils’ initiatives. The councils will be at an advantageous point where they can be able to tsp into the advantages of divisions in labour. It is vital to note that the process is a means through which limitations of a centrally controlled planning are overcome towards the government being sensitive to the needs of the local community (Ribot, p. 216). . However, local empowerment if not planned effectively can result in the lack of coordination of the national and local government activities. The local government and the national government will experience immense duplication of duties by the various subunits that will be performing its functions in the provinces. The decisions made if not communicated effectively and through the right channel, could lead to inconsistency. This will lead to lack of the government meeting its national set objectives. Lastly, if the local community is not fully and skilfully empowered the local council will be unequipped and unable to oversee the implementation of the diverse and complex problems that come their way (Ribot, p. 219). 9.0. Recommendations Saudi Arabia has an enabling and receptive environment for the empowerment of the local government to be effectively realized. The government in close collaboration with the local government is to increase the public’s opportunities as well as their capabilities for them to be able to express their choices. This is to be done through an effective empowerment program. Through the empowerment, the public will realize their potential and their roles and transform then into the desired actions and developmental outcomes. The participation of the public in the local government activities is determined by the resource endowments of the individuals and the social capital which is the basis for a collective action. The government should strategically organize the local governance and empower them on their role in the local empowerment process for them to have the sound knowledge in the making of effective decisions, enforcement of rules and accountability. The government should not only create the local government governance authorities but also have a variety of civil and community institutions in the society that will facilitate the participation of the community at the grass root level. This is to be done through the local provision systems that include the community based organizations, non governmental organizations and other stakeholders from the private and public sectors. The government is draft the policies and government policies that are to govern the local government officials behaviours and decisions. In addition, the women have to play a role in the local empowerment process. The empowerment process should have a set plan to guide in the determining the place of women in the local empowerment process. References Aba-Namay, R. (1993). The recent constitutional reforms in Saudi Arabia. The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 42 (2), 295-331. Albadi, F. (2007), Fiscal Decentralization in Developing Countries: A Proposed Framework for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A Research Paper prepared for the 27th International Congress, 9-14th July, 2007, Abu Dhabi, UAE, pp. 254-341. Albassam, B., (2011). Political Reforms in Saudi Arabia: Necessity or Luxury? Middle East Studies Online Journal, vol.3 (6), pp. 175-197. Institute of Diplomatic Studies. (2007). “Political and Economic Reforms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” In the Diplomat, Issue 6- March 2007, pp. 27-36 Looney, R. (2004). Saudization and Sound Economic Reforms: Are the Two Compatible? Strategic Insights, Vol.3 (2), 1-11. Middle East Watch. (1992). Empty reforms: Saudi Arabia's new basic laws. New York: Human Rights Watch . Niblock, T & Malik, M. (2007), The Political Economy of Saudi Arabia. New York: Routledge. Olken, B, (2005). “Monitoring Corruption: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia.” Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 11753. Qobo, M., & Soko, M. (2010, October ). Saudi Arabia as an Emerging Market: Commercial Opportunities and Challenges for South Africa. Emerging Powers and Global Challenges Programmes, Occasional Paper No. 69 , pp. 1-16. Ribot, J, (2004). Waiting for Democracy: The Politics of Choice in Natural Resource Decentralization. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Sadi, M. & Al-Ghazali, B. (2009). Doing Business with impudence:a focus on women entreprenuership in Saudi Arabia. Academic Journals, Vol. 4 (1), 1-11. Schroeder, L, (2003). “Mechanisms for Strengthening Local Accountability.” Washington, DC: World Bank, Paper prepared for the Decentralization Thematic Group, March. Schroeder, L. (2003), Fiscal Decentralization in Southeast Asia, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Fall 2003, 15 (3), pp 385-400. Shah, A and Theresa T, (2004). “Implementing Decentralized Local Governance: A Treacherous Road with Potholes, Detours, and Road Closures.” Washington, DC: World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper No. 3353, June. Stegarescu, D. (2005), Public Sector Decentralization: Measurement Concepts and Recent International Trends, Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies , USA, 26, (3); pp 301-333. Voorhees, W., (2005), Basic Economics of Fiscal Decentralization, Handbook of Public Sector Economics, Ed. D. Robins, Marcel Dekker, NewYork, USA, pp 303-425. Read More