Sunday, February 27, 2011

Next in line: Saudi Arabia

CAIRO – More than 100 leading Saudi academics and activists urged King Abdullah to enact sweeping reforms, including setting up a constitutional monarchy, and he ordered Sunday that government sector workers with temporary contracts be given permanent jobs in order to pre-empt the unrest that has engulfed other Arab nations.
The activists' statement, seen on several Saudi websites Sunday, reflects the undercurrent of tension that has simmered for years in the world's largest oil producer. While Abdullah is seen as a reformer, the pace of those reforms has been slow as Saudi officials balance the need to push the country forward with the perennial pressure from hard-line clergy in the conservative nation.
"The current situation ... is full of reasons for concern," said the statement, which was signed by 119 academics, activists and businessmen. "We are seeing ... a receding of Saudi Arabia's prominent regional role for which our nation was known and the .... prevalence of corruption and nepotism, the exacerbation of factionalism and a widening in the gap between state and society." ...
Read more
Comment: It's too little, too late, dear Abdullah. Neither money nor guns will save you and your corrupt "kingdom". The more you pump, the earlier your wells be empty. The more you repress, the earlier rebellion will strike. Your kinddom is doomed. Soon the desert will rule again.  

No comments:

Post a Comment