Okaz: Saudi Arabia: appoints a minister for the Shoura council affairs

The Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz on Tuesday appointed Saud Bin Saed al-Matahami as a minister of state for relations with the Shoura council.

The appointment was in the course of enhancing the role played by the said council. The Saudi daily Okaz quoted al-Matahami as saying that creating this new post comes in the context of a series of "evaluation, development and comprehensive reforms of the organizational structure in the Kingdom."

The post of al-Matahami, 45 year old, falls in the course of political reforms operation promised by the authorities in the Kingdom. He is a specialist in information technology, and completed his studies in the USA and Britain. He is a member in the Shoura council ( Parliament ) appointed by the king.

Member of the Shoura council, Ihsan Buhleiqa, said that the new minister will be an "eye" for the newly born parliament inside the government. He explained this is a step forward in reforms, and an important measure demanded previously by the Shoura council.

By the end of October, the council was given the authority to propose draft projects without getting prior consent from the Saudi king or government.