Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman is expected to inject new blood to the 150-member Shoura Council, Al-Madina Arabic daily reported on Wednesday. The king will appoint to the consultative body 75 new members, who will include at least 15 women, on Dec. 2, when the sixth Shoura Council's term ends. According to Shoura Council's bylaw, the king will select 150 members of the Shoura Council and its president from highly knowledgeable and experienced citizens to advice the government on political, economic, security, defense, foreign policy, social and manpower issues. "At least 20 percent of the Shoura members will be women," said the bylaw, which specifies the rights and duties of members. A Shoura member should be a Saudi national by descent and upbringing, aged not less than 30 and a person known for his or her uprightness and competence. Informed sources told Al-Madina that at least 19 members who have completed 12 years in the Shoura will be replaced. They include: Ibrahim Al-Bilaihi, Ahmed Al-Mufreh, Khaled Al-Awad, Khidr Al-Qurashi, Rashid Al-Kuthairy, Salim Al-Qahtani, Saud Al-Subaiee, Saud Al-Shammari, Saleh Al-Husseini, Sadaqa Fadil, Aazib Al-Musbil, Abdullah Al-Feefi, Abdul Rahman Al-Suwailem, Abdullah Al-Dhufairy, Mohsen Al-Hazmi, Mohammed Al-Saadan and Mohammed Reda Nasrallah. The term of a Shoura Council will be four years beginning from the day mentioned in the royal decree and the new council will be formed two months before the expiry of the existing council's term, the daily said quoting the council's bylaw. "If the new council was not formed before the expiry of the existing council's term, the existing council will continue until a new council is formed. While appointing the new council it should be noted that at least 50 percent of its members should be new," the bylaw said. The Shoura Council is considered a principal partner of the government in the decision-making process. The Council of Ministers depends largely on the consultative body before issuing its resolutions. Every Cabinet session passes at least one resolution or bylaw approved or drafted by the Shoura. The council's 14 subcommittees have completed a number of studies and projects during the sixth term. They have also helped the council discuss annual reports of government agencies and departments as well as new rules and regulations and international agreements. "While discussing reports and bylaws the Shoura resorted to the assistance of ministers and public and private officials to get new insights," the source said. The king appointed seven new Shoura members during the sixth term. They are Dr. Khaled bin Abdullah Al-Sabti, Dr. Mohammed bin Ali Al-Hayazie, Walid bin Abdul Kareem Al-Kheraiji, Mohammed bin Nasser Al-Saqr, Dr. Saad bin Mohammed Al-Horaiqi, Dr. Nasser bin Abdul Aziz Al-Dawood and Abbas bin Ahmed Hadi. A number of Shoura members have been appointed to senior government positions during the session. They include Dr. Saad Mariq, adviser to Makkah governor, Mohammed bin Faisal Abusaq, state minister for Shoura affairs, Dr. Hatim Al-Marzouqi, president of Madinah Islamic University, and Dr. Hussam Al-Anqari, chairman of the General Auditing Bureau. Other Shoura members who got promotions were: Dr. Khaled bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Muhaisin, president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Dr. Amr bin Ibrahim Rajab, vice president of the Cabinet's expert committee, and Dr. Nasser bin Rajeh Al-Shahrani, vice president of the Human Rights Commission. Dr. Abdullah Al-Askar and Dr. Ali Thuwaini died while serving as members of the sixth Shoura Council, the source pointed out.
