El Rey que reformó Arabia Saudí

El Rey que reformó Arabia Saudí


REFORMA/Redacción
Cd. de México (23 enero 2015).-


El Rey, que se cree tenía 90 años, había estado hospitalizado desde el 31 de diciembre pasado por problemas respiratorios.

Abdullah fue el treceavo de 37 hijos del fundador del Estado saudí, el Rey Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. Ascendió al trono en 2006 tras la muerte de su medio hermano Fahd, aunque se desempeñó de facto en el cargo desde 1995, cuando el entonces Monarca sufrió una apoplejía. Para ese entonces, ya había impulsado cambios en varias ramas del Gobierno: modernizó a las Fuerzas Armadas como comandante en 1962; como viceprimer Ministro en 1982 exhortó a la tolerancia religiosa y tomó una línea dura contra el terrorismo en la región (que se mantiene hasta hoy, con la participación saudí en la coalición que combate al Estado Islámico), y en 2005, como Príncipe heredero, ayudó a introducir elecciones municipales en la Monarquía absoluta.

Ya como Rey, buscó modernizar Arabia Saudí, y usó millones de dólares de las arcas del país (que tiene un quinto de las reservas totales de petróleo en el mundo) para abrir la economía e impulsar la educación.

Recortó los gastos de la familia real, liberalizó la economía y pretendió fomentar el acercamiento con el pueblo por medio de un foro de diálogo nacional y una Comisión de Derechos Humanos.

Entre sus proyectos destacan, asimismo, una reforma curricular para incentivar la tolerancia, un programa de becas internacionales para que los saudíes puedan estudiar posgrados en el extranjero y la apertura de una universidad de ciencia y tecnología que lleva su nombre, en la que mujeres y hombres comparten las aulas, algo antes visto como un tabú.

Justamente el tema de derechos de la mujer fue uno en el que Abdullah se presentó a sí mismo como un reformador. Nombró a la primera viceministra en 2009, permitió que hubiera mujeres en el Consejo de la Shura (que asesora al Gobierno), permitió que hubiera atletas en las Olimpiadas y, en el 2011, les dio el derecho de voto y de ser votadas.

A su muerte, Abdullah deja así una Arabia Saudí muy distinta a la que existía cuando llegó al poder.

Pero, pese a sus cautas reformas, se mantiene intacta la estructura de poder de su país y persisten las controversias sobre el tratamiento de los derechos humanos.

Por ejemplo, encarceló a innumerables disidentes, en particular tras las protestas pro democracia de la Primavera Árabe, además de que mantuvo la prohibición a que las mujeres manejen.

Tan sólo la semana pasada, estaba agendado una condena de mil azotes contra el bloguero Raif Badawi por presuntamente insultar al Islam.

Estos temas quedarán en las manos del ahora Rey Salman, de 79 años, y del nuevo Príncipe heredero, Muqrin.

Entre los últimos miembros de la familia real, deberán buscar mantener la estabilidad de Arabia Saudí ante amenazas regionales como la caída del precio del petróleo, la desestabilización política en los países vecinos de Yemen e Irak, los conflictos civiles en Libia y Siria y las amenazas yihadistas de Al-Qaeda y el Estado Islámico.

Pero también quedará por verse el tema de la sucesión. El mismo Salman, según reportes no confirmados, padece de Alzheimer.
Hora de publicación: 00:00 hrs

Saudi Arabia's new king might be turning away from modern reforms
Reuters

Angus McDowall, Reuters

Feb. 3, 2015, 5:40 AM
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Saudi Arabia's King Salman is seen during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Erga Palace in Riyadh January 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Bourg Thomson ReutersSaudi King Salman is seen during U.S. President Obama's visit to Erga Palace in Riyadh

RIYADH (Reuters) - In making a blaze of largesse and the dismissal of relatively liberal clerics two of his first acts as monarch, Saudi Arabia's King Salman has signaled his approach to big future challenges may differ from that of his liberalizing late brother.

On the face of it, those moves suggest a partiality for religious conservatism and the buying of political support - both traits that seem to contradict the modernizing reforms the kingdom says it wants.

While the truth is likely to be more complex than that, the moves hint at how Salman might tackle Saudi Arabia's looming demographic challenge, which threatens to undermine the ruling family's legitimacy at a moment of unprecedented regional chaos.

"Traditionalists and modernists grew apart during King Abdullah's time. But Salman had excellent relations with both sides and each thinks the new king is behind him," said Khalil al-Khalil, an academic and writer at Imam Saud University, the country's most influential seminary.

"I expect we'll see conservatives start to test the boundaries and see what they can get away with under the new regime," said a diplomat in the Gulf.

However, it is far from clear if Salman really will slow, or even reverse, Abdullah's liberalizing reforms, which are popular with many young Saudis.

Saudi Arabia's unspoken social contract – that its people owe the king obedience in return for public services, comfortable living standards and a government that rules in accordance with Islamic tenets – is at risk.

Fast population growth means spending on citizens must be constrained, while increasing access to the outside world means liberals and conservatives alike now challenge the idea of dynastic rule.

For Salman, those risks are more urgent than ever because of the rise of Islamic State, whose jihadist fighters boast they will inspire an uprising in Saudi Arabia to unseat the Al Saud.

The late King Abdullah attempted to preserve his family's rule with reforms aimed at creating private sector jobs and by gradually liberalizing society by loosening Islamic restrictions. He also clamped down hard on political dissent.

It is too early to say what Salman's vision is, but a series of decrees last week gave some indications, including the sacking of Justice Minister Mohammed al-Issa and Religious Police chief Abdulatif Al al-Sheikh, sworn foes of Saudi conservatives.

Those decrees also splurged around $20 billion in bonus payments to citizens and streamlined an unruly bunch of ministerial committees into just two, one to handle security issues and the other economic issues.

Saudi Arabia King Salman Crown Prince Murqen MohammedSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty ImagesSaudi King Salman (C), Crown Prince Moqren bin Abdul Aziz (3L), and deputy Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef (L) walk to greet US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on January 27, 2015.

TESTING THE BOUNDARIES

In times of trouble, the Al Saud have always been more worried about the risk of a conservative Muslim uprising than about Western criticism or anger among liberal Saudis.

Abdullah approached that challenge by confronting the religious elite, upon whom the Al Saud depend for some of their legitimacy, and pushing them to accept reforms to the Sharia judiciary, education and women's rights.

Issa, the justice minister, was decried by conservatives in petitions to the monarch for promoting "the Westernizing stench of reform", while Al al-Sheikh's departure was applauded by members of the morality police, who publicly celebrated on Friday.

Conservatives may see Salman's move to dismiss the pair as a step back from the late king's liberalizing tendency. They will also be pleased by his decision to reappoint as an adviser to the court Saad al-Shethri, an ultra conservative sacked by Abdullah in 2009 for opposing a co-educational university.

Yet the changes in support of conservatives may not be as deep as the initial headlines suggest.

The new justice minister, Walid al-Samaani, "is from the same school as Issa. They both came from the Board of Grievances and served on the same committees. Sheikh Issah himself supervised Samaani's PhD," said Majed Garoub, a lawyer with close ties to the former justice minister.

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-NaimiREUTERS/Heinz-Peter BaderSaudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna November 27, 2014.


ECONOMIC REFORM

Any move to placate conservatives by backpeddling on women's rights would retard economic development too, because of the need for a big increase in Saudis of both sexes working for the private sector instead of depending on government salaries.

King Salman has not yet fleshed out his plans for reducing Riyadh's dependency on oil revenues over the long term or for moving Saudis into some of the 8 million jobs held by foreigners.

His award of two months bonus salaries and pensions last week appeared to take a page straight from the old, fiscally irresponsible playbook of decades ago.

But economists pointed out that unlike Abdullah's move upon becoming king in 2005 of raising public sector salaries, Salman's decree will only dent the budget this year and not impact future spending.

Meanwhile, his decision to keep in place the active Labour Minister Adel al-Faqieh suggests he will continue a big drive to get more Saudis into work, and merging two education ministries might mean a revival of reform efforts in that direction.

Another possible wave of reforms might be aimed not at resolving those long term issues, however, but at making the state provide better services and reduce corruption, say people who know the new king.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed has already shown how improving services might be possible in the Interior Ministry, where he pushed through e-government programs that made many procedures slicker.

Salman may hope that similar efforts in other parts of the state will make life more comfortable for his subjects and therefore secure Saudi Arabia's leadership against challengers without causing more tension between liberals and conservatives.