July 30th, 2010 by Farid

Writing at the Arab Reform Bulletin, Neil Patrick argues that those seeking reform in Saudi Arabia “seem to be in a race against the clock,” adding that many in the Kingdom view the next two years as decisive for reform prospects. Patrick explains that reform, referred to by Saudis as a “change in environment,” has indeed “emerged in the last few years,” but cautions that a change in the “mood music” is not the same as institutional reform. In Saudi Arabia, reform has basically meant putting reformers behind “key desks” in ministries and public institutions, yet actual change in practice has not occurred, Patrick argues. Codification of laws or “anything resembling written law is pretty much uncharted territory in the Kingdom,” he says, and endowing the Majlis al-Shura, the quasi-parliament, with “any actual powers, [is] unlikely for now.”

Posted in Reform, Saudi Arabia |