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Editor�s Note:
This special report provides a press
survey following the announcement this weekend of changes among
Saudi government officials.
Major Reshuffle in Saudi Arabia
[Feb 14] - BBC
"King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has sacked two powerful
religious officials in a wide ranging shake-up of the cabinet and
other government posts. One of the dismissed men was the head of
the controversial religious police force. The other was the
country's most senior judge. The king also appointed the country's
first-ever female minister and replaced the head of the central
bank. Correspondents say such government reshuffles are rare in
Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, has for a
long time had the reputation of a reformer - and the latest
appointments have the makings of one of the biggest shake-ups in
Saudi public life for many years.. ..The shake-up also affected
the feared religious police organisation, known as the Commission
for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Sheikh
Ibrahim al-Ghaith has lost his job as head of the commission,
which enforces Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam,
Wahhabism.. ..our correspondent says the religious police have
been widely criticised recently over allegations of brutality -
the kind of comments that could never have been made publicly a
few years ago.." [more]
Saudi Arabia
Replaces Head of Central Bank [Feb 14] - WSJ
"Saudi Arabia named Muhammad al-Jasser as its new
central-bank governor on Saturday in a government reshuffle that
saw the appointment of the first woman to a cabinet-level position
in the kingdom. Mr. al-Jasser replaces Hamad Al Sayyari, the
longest serving central banker in the Gulf, to head the Saudi
Arabian Monetary Agency, an authority that controls monetary
policy in the kingdom and oversees its vast foreign assets
estimated to be worth in excess of $500 billion.. ..King Abdullah,
Saudi Arabia's ruler, has decided to introduce new leadership at
SAMA as the kingdom prepares to adjust to the twin challenges of
lower oil prices and the global economic crisis. Mr. al-Jasser
attended San Diego State University, according to a profile on the
CEO World magazine Web site. Prior to joining SAMA in 1995 as
deputy governor, Mr. al-Jasser held a number of positions in the
Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF, according to the Web site.
He didn't return calls Saturday seeking comment. Investors on the
Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, were optimistic about
the change in management at the top of SAMA.." [more]
Saudi Woman Becomes
Deputy Minister [Feb 14] - Al Jazeera
"Saudi Arabia has named a woman as deputy minister for
education - the most senior role ever held by a female in the
kingdom. Norah al-Faiz, currently an official at the Saudi
Institute for Public Administration, was named as the deputy
minister responsible for women's education as part of a reshuffle
of the cabinet, military and judiciary on Saturday.. ..The
reshuffle, King Abdullah's first since he took power following the
the death of his half-brother in 2005, also saw new education,
justice and information ministers appointed. 'This is a turning
point. It is the biggest change that happened in this country in
20 years,' Mohammad al-Zulfa, a member of Saudi Arabia's Shura
council, told the AFP news agency. 'It is a new start for King
Abdullah. People are expecting changes,' he said. 'These are new
faces who can bring change.'.." [more]
Development of
Judiciary Top Priority [Feb 15] - Saudi Gazette
"Muhammad Bin Abul Karim Al-Issa, the new Minister of
Justice, has described the greatest challenges and concerns facing
him in his new office as the development of the judiciary and its
facilities, and the implementation of a modern system for which
the state has allocated seven billion riyals. Al-Issa, speaking
Saturday to Okaz, said he was fully aware of the difficulties
faced by the public and their demands to have their cases
resolved, as well as a shortage of official judges in some of the
more remote regions. He promised to accord top priorities to all
these issues.." [more]
Changes Aim to
Inject New Blood Into Administration [Feb 15] - Gulf News
"Tipped to be the largest ever shake up in the administrative
and judicial sectors made by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, four
ministers and heads of the powerful religious police and judicial
bodies were dismissed on Saturday.. ..Commenting on the king's
reshuffle, Dr Naif Al Shamri, professor of political science at
King Saud University, told Gulf News that these changes were aimed
at injecting new blood into Saudi government to enable it to meet
the requirements in the nation building and its march forward to
become more prosperous. He also noted that the Senior Scholars
Commission, which had hitherto been represented only by those
representing Hanbali school of thought, has been revamped to
accommodate all Sunni schools of thought.." [more]
New Woman Minister
Cracks Saudi Glass Ceiling [Feb 15] - AFP
"Norah al-Fayez, the first woman ever named to a ministerial
post in Saudi Arabia, has put a crack in the thick glass ceiling
that the country's strict version of Islam sets against her
gender. The veteran administrator was named to the new post of
deputy education minister for women's education as part of a
sweeping shakeup of the government announced Saturday by the
country's reform-minded absolute monarch King Abdullah. 'This is a
successful step. We've always suffered from having a man occupy
the position' overseeing women's education, the English-language
Arab News newspaper quoted her as saying. 'A woman knows what
problems and challenges her peers face. It's a change for the
better,' she said. Leading Saudi women's rights activist and
academic Hatoon al-Fassi said that she was very happy about
Fayez's appointment although this step was not enough. 'One woman
is not enough, what will one woman do alone in a crowd of men,'
Fassi told AFP. 'Her decisions will not be effective or tangible,
but it is a step in the right direction.'.." [more]
Religious
Hard-Liners Take a Hit in King's Reshuffle [Feb 15] - RFI
"King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has fired a number of
religious hard-liners from top posts in Saudi Arabia and appointed
the country's first-ever woman minister. The chief of the
religious police, the head of the top Islamic clerics' body and
the head of the highest tribunal have all been replaced. "His
Majesty has announced last year that he wanted to reform the
judiciary system and his decision was resisted," points out
Ibrahim Mugaiteeb of the Human Rights First Society, who dubs the
reshuffle 'a small earthquake' but hopes that more reforms will
follow.." [more]
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SPECIAL
REPORT