Saudi people have not yet developed a sense of satisfaction about the performance of the Shoura Council, said Sheikh Saleh Bin Humaid, chairman of the Shoura Council, Wednesday in Qassim. The Saudi Shoura Council is not an exception in this regard, he said. “Approval rate of all parliaments in the world does not exceed 20 percent,” he said. His statement came during a lecture on the Shoura Council he delivered at Qassim University graced by the attendance of Prince Faisal Bin Masha'l, Deputy Emir of Qassim. The Council is planning to launch a mechanism for measuring public opinion, he said. Drawing on the relationship between Western democracy and Islamic shoura, he said the two aim at the same goals while being different at mechanisms. Islam, however, does not mind taking the positive side of Western democracy, he said. Shoura (or consultation) in Islam is a way of participating in the decision-making process through wise counsel, he said. The decision-making process in the Western democracy, on the other hand, is inspired by the people as a whole, he said. Sheikh Bin Humaid said if shoura failed to work in the Kingdom, the failure would be blamed on the human element in its implementation, ruling out the implementation of Western-style democracy in the Kingdom. The shoura style of governance in a tribal society like the Kingdom would not be affected by allegiance paid to the tribe, he said. It would be affected by racism rather, he said. The shoura system in the Kingdom is based on institutional-driven style of governance, minimizing any decision-making process driven by individual whims, he said. Sheikh Bin Humaid rejected allegations that the time taken by the Shoura Council to issue a decision is slow. For a decision to be made at the Council, it has to be well-thought out and the time frame of its delivery is “acceptable,” he said. On women's participation in his council, he said that the Council has six women working as advisors. Official appointment of the Shoura Council members, as opposed to public election, has been proven to be effective and successful, he said. The Council draws its power from the authority it enjoys rather than the road leading to it, he said.
