Saudi government - religious cleric cooperation against reform cited
Saudi Arabia, Politics, 5/6/2006

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published last month a paper on Saudi Arabia which spoke in mixed terms about the Saudi political reforms.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace mentions that "The paper puts forth two main arguments, the first being that reform measures that have been introduced by the ruling establishment in since 2002 have resulted in an unprecedented degree of political dynamism in Saudi politics, a sustained political opening, and thus a higher degree of popular participation in Saudi politics." while others say "that the Saudi political scene is characterized by a high degree of concentration of power. There are two main actors, namely the royal family and the religious establishment. Other actors, specifically liberal reformers, moderate Islamists, and remnants of the Islamic awakening movement of the 1970s—albeit scattered and weak—have started to gain more voice as a result of the political opening over the last few years. However, there remains a clear imbalance of power between the royal family and the religious establishment on the one hand, and other political actors."

A Synopsis of the paper by Dina Bishara paper said "the relationship between the royal family and the religious establishment should not be reduced to a question who is the more dominant player, especially since this has largely been dependent on the issue that is being negotiated. What is more important is to note that the relationship is primarily a function of religious legitimacy and social control. The religious establishment grants religious legitimacy to the royal family in return for control over vital social spheres, most importantly education and preaching."

Bishara highlighted "Third, the royal family is divided into moderate and conservative factions. The former faction is interested in sustaining the political opening and creating a larger space for citizens' participation, while the latter prioritizes securitization. Hamzawy argued that the balance of power between the two factions has been moving in the direction of the moderate faction in the last few years, especially King Abdullah's accession to the throne. This means that there is a certain degree of commitment to reform within the Saudi royal family."

Bishara highlighted "the Saudi political scene includes three other political actors: liberal reformers; moderate Islamists; and leading religious scholars of the Islamic Awakening movement conservative popular movement that emerged in the 1980s and 90s. Notably, these actors are simply individuals and are not yet part of organized social movements. The first group includes intellectuals, university professors, and opinion makers, who have managed to develop an interesting reform platform and articulate their demands publicly, most significantly by presenting a memorandum for constitutional monarchy in 2003. Moderate Islamists in the Saudi context consist of religious scholars who are critical of the religious establishment. Hamzawy distinguished between Sunni and Shiite components of this group, pointing out that the former take their starting point from reforming the religious establishment itself, while the latter seek to diversify religious based legitimacy by introducing other religious interpretations. The Islamic Awakening movement presented a security challenge to the state but was contained in the second half of the 1990s. In recent years, remnants of the movements have developed a reform platform in recent years. Significantly, there has been a degree of convergence in the platforms of these three actors, which has enabled them to coordinate on some reform issues, and systematically place their demands at the center of the public space."

The paper notes "The issue of educational reform is particularly sensitive because it reflects the balance of power between royal family and the religious establishment. Between 2002 and 2005, a very limited number of reforms have been introduced to create a balance between religious and non-religious subjects in the curricula. There measures were, by in large, introduced hesitantly and reluctantly due to the fierce opposition by the religious establishment."

Jamal Khashoggi, Advisor to the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in the United States' pointed out "that there are no popular demands for reform in Saudi Arabia. He expressed doubts about the alleged alliance between the religious establishment and the royal family and contested Hamzawy's claim about the division within the royal family, arguing that it is normal for any family to have dissenting opinions and pointing out that major decisions within the Saudi royal family are consensual. He also questioned the "alliance" that Hamzawy describes between the royal family and the religious establishment."

David Ottaway from the Washington Post commented on the nature of the political actors described by Amr Hamzawy, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointing out that "they are all individuals and there was no mention of any kind of social forces or classes at work in the reform process. He raised the question of why merchant families, who have played an important role in Kuwait's political development are absent from a discussion on Saudi political reform, despite the fact they are a powerful force," asking "whether Saudi women and youth should have been included as political actors. He raised the question of why it is that Saudi Arabia's reformers are weak, and argued that they depend on government wages."

Amr Hamzawy disagreed with Khashoggi's explanation for the lack of popular demand for reform, arguing that "there is a dialectal relationship between political opening and popular demands for reform, which means that political openings lead to increased popular demands and vice versa. On Ottaway's point regarding the absence of organized opposition movements, Hamzawy pointed out that reformers remain restricted due to repression and dependence on government salaries."

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