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Kingdom of Arabia Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The kingdom is divided into regions called governorates, each of which is headed by an emir, or governor, who answers directly to the king. The king is chief of state and head of government and rules with the Council of Ministers. Before 1992 the king, crown prince, and Council of Ministers established all laws; however, the Koran remains the country's official "constitution". In March 1992 the king issued a new "system of governance" (the first written body of law in the kingdom). The new system provides for a consultative council (the Majlis Alshura, or Shura Council), made up of 60 appointed members, which advises the king and Council of Ministers. Each governor also has a ten-member Consultative Council, and governorates now have greater autonomy to make certain decisions.
The governance system states that all kings, after the current crown prince, will be elected by all the princes (there are more than 500), and that new crown princes will be appointed and can be dismissed by the king. This change effectively eliminates the hereditary line of rule. The new body of laws does not provide for elections or a representative legislature, but discussion of human rights and public dialogue on policy matters represents a major change for Saudi Arabia. Open criticism of the government is not tolerated.
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