http://www.smh.com.au/world/leading-saudis-call-for-constitutional-monarchy-20110228-1bbtk.html
Leading Saudis call for constitutional monarchy March 1, 2011 RIYADH: More than 100 Saudi academics, activists and businessmen have called for reforms in the conservative kingdom, including the establishment of a ''constitutional monarchy'', in a statement published on the internet. ''We will submit these requests to King Abdullah at a later stage,'' said Khaled al-Dakhil, a teacher of political science at the King Saud University and one of the 123 signatories of the petition. ''We have high hopes that these reforms will be implemented. Now is the time.'' The petition calls for the election rather than appointment of a consultative council, and the creation of a constitutional monarchy - a demand that led to the arrest of activists in 2003-04. It also calls for greater participation of women in social and political life. A page on Facebook has also been set up calling for a ''day of rage'' protest on March 11. It is not clear if the statement and protest call are connected. Saudi Arabia controls a quarter of the world's oil reserves but unemployment among its youth stands at 10 per cent and women are largely kept out of the workforce. In an apparent attempt to keep his subjects happy, King Abdullah on Sunday made temporary state employees permanent and ordered government organisations to advertise jobs, state TV reported. Last week the king announced an increase in social benefits for Saudis, including a 15 per cent pay rise for state employees and an increase in cash available for housing loans. Saudi Arabia, a member of the Group of 20 nations, has been ruled by six kings since it was established in 1932. Political groups and public demonstrations are banned. Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
