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Riyadh: Political and economic analysts are looking forward to the speech to be delivered by the Saudi king before the Shura (Consultative Council) on Thursday.
King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz will outline the Saudi government's internal and external policy.
Gulf News has learned that the Saudi monarch's address, to coincide with the end of the 4th session of the second year of the Shura Council, will include a number of important decisions for the coming period. New domestic and foreign policies are expected to be announced by the king.
Domestic observers expect the king's speech to focus on fighting corruption in the kingdom. The Saudi cabinet has earlier endorsed a national anti-corruption strategy. The decision established a national corruption fighting committee to evaluate, monitor, and follow up the execution of the strategy and set up implementation programmes.
Parliamentary elections
The king's speech before the Shura Council is a mirror through which the Saudi domestic and foreign policies can be seen. The speech, moreover, is considered the government's working programme, as it gives members of the Council guidelines on the government's short- and long-term plans.
Members of the appointed Saudi Consultative Council are looking for King Abdullah to grant them broad authority such as monitoring the performance of government departments and questioning negligent officials. They are also looking for future parliamentary elections within the framework of the political and economic reforms adopted by King Abdullah since he took office in 2005.
Last year, when he opened the Shura Council's session as king, King Abdullah vowed to go ahead with economic and political reforms.
Meanwhile, a special committee has been asked to study the nominations of ministers who will be appointed in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
The committee consists of members from the Shura Council and prominent academics. It is the first cabinet reshuffle to be made by King Abdullah since he took office in August 2005.
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