In a series of royal decrees, the Custodian of the Two Holy mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has reshuffled the Kingdom's cabinet bringing in fresh faces to occupy top-ranking posts as either ministers in key offices or heads of several educational, economic and judicial bodies. The broader caption of the recent reshuffle is hardly unmistakable: to accelerate the pace of change and to boost reform. The timing of these changes is also crucial keeping in mind that the entire world is witnessing an unprecedented economic downturn which is threatening world economies with far more consequences that would last for several years to come. The recent shuffle comes as both education and judiciary systems receive multi-billion development plans which, until now, bring no concrete results despite the fact that they have been around for two years. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabea was named Health Minister. His long experience as the head of Health Services at the National Guard would enable him to address the most acute problems associated with the health sector in the Kingdom. The challenges ahead are very huge and many Saudis believe that health services in the Kingdom are deteriorating with an acute shortage of physicians, lack of modern medical equipment and few specialized centres. The poor service in many local health centres, scattered around in villages and small towns, is increasingly upsetting many patients who must flock to big cities to receive better treatment. Many well-equipped hospitals, particularly in big cities, are run with full capacity due to the increasing number of patients and this, in retrospect, would affect the type of medical services provided. No one doubts, however, the skill and determination of the new health minister and the full support he would receive from the Kingdom leadership in addressing all these problems and finding solutions to them. In another change, Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad replaces Saleh Al-Obeid as the new education minister. His appointment brings hope to many teachers, students and parents who believe that a fundamental change in the whole educational system is urgently needed. Despite the large sums of money poured into that sector every year, many people believe that educational outcome is no longer compatible with the requirements of the labor market or even with the demands of the local economy. The root causes of the declining system of education are not hard to find. Education is engulfed in a bureaucratic and systemic inefficiency on all levels. Poor teacher training, ill-equipped school buildings, outdated textbooks and the huge number of fragmented educational projects, just to name a few, all indicate that the inefficiency in our educational system is deep and rampant. The multi-billion education reform project announced two years ago has yielded no concrete results due to several procedural as well as administrative missteps. The new changes in the Saudi judicial apparatus are expected to have lasting impact on the lives of the Saudi people. The changes affect key judiciary bodies such as Supreme Judicial Council, Court of Grievances and Court of Appeal, some of which had recently been formed. Again, the newly appointed heads of these important legal organs are expected to face immensely complex obstacles. Among such problems are the shortage of judges in the Kingdom's courts, the long-time need to address some legal proceedings and the mounting pressure on the whole legal system to become more transparent and efficient. However, two more appointments attract wider attention and were at the centre of much news coverage. Norah Al-Fayez was appointed deputy minister for girls' education in the Ministry of Education, a step that was hailed by many people who want women to undertake more executive responsibilities in government's top-ranking jobs. Her appointment indicates that the time has come for women to get actively involved in the building process of their country. Another fundamental change is also seen in the restructuring of the Council of Senior Scholars. The newly appointed Shariah scholars in the Council would be representative of the four schools of thought in the Sunni brand of Islam. This reflects the need for more diversity in perspectives regarding issuance of Fatwa, a legal ruling that is normally given by a senior scholar in the Islamic Shariah. In sum, this recent reshuffle is a landmark in the history of Saudi Arabia. It is hoped that the newly appointed ministers as well as the heads of other government bodies involved in this reshuffle would work hard to fulfill the King's widely
