RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A leading member of the Saudi royal family has rejected calls for democratic reforms in the oil-rich kingdom and for members of the country's Shura, or consultative council to be elected, rather than appointed, saying such moves would be "premature" and not in harmony with Islamic Sharia law.
In an interview at his home in Riyadh, Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdul Aziz, the nephew of Saudi King Fahd, told United Press International, "Some Western calls which are being released from time to time and which are being repeated by some of us out of ignorance or stupidity are calls strange to us and not related to Saudi reality."
One of the calls he was referring to came from another Saudi Prince and business tycoon, al-Waleed bin Talal. Al-Waleed recently said in an interview with the New York Times that there ought to be elections in Saudi Arabia and a democratic transformation of the monarchy.
Al-Waleed also criticized the political performance of the ruling family.
Prince Sultan said al-Waleed's comments were not "related to the Saudi reality and do not represent the true Saudi position."
He accused al-Waleed of making comments "in the interests of the West and parties opposing Saudi policies." He said the support of the Saudi people for the monarchy was solid.
He rejected calls for elections to the country's consultative council, or Shura, saying, "applying the principle of free election to the members of the Shura, people will not succeed in choosing the qualified (candidates) with high education and long experience."
The prince -- who until August was the head of the kingdom's intelligence service -- referred to elections in countries, which he did not name, "where some candidates reach their posts by buying votes with money."
King Fahd raised the number of members of the Shura from 90 to 120 for a four-year-term on June 24 this year, the latest in a series of expansions. During the council's original term, which began in 1993, it had 60 members, and this was raised to 90 for its second term starting in 1997.
While Prince Sultan confirmed the respect that Saudis had for western people "and their sciences and technologies which are essential to us," he added: "But we are not obliged that our customs and traditions be in conformity with their social norms and behavior."
He said the west could not avoid criticism if it tried to impose a culture and philosophy "which partially or totally contradict with other cultures."
He added that the participation of the Saudi people in shaping their country's policies was "a de-facto right exercised by all Saudis through their daily direct meetings with their (local) leaders or through the deliberations of the Shura" which he said were "superior in their seriousness and honesty to the most honorable democracy in the West."
The prince said the Kingdom's "record remained clear -- it did not bow to pressures or accept half-solutions as far as its principles and Islamic values are concerned."
He defended the presence of U.S. troops in the region, saying, "foreign presence (in the Gulf) is not justified by the governments' pretexts but by the necessities of people's interests."
The prince also called on the Saudi businessmen to recover their money placed abroad -- and estimated at $600 billion -- and reinvest in their own country, noting that international money markets were badly shaken recently.
Prince Sultan sharply criticized western and especially U.S. media "which attack and discredit others ... while we know that they bluntly refuse to let Arab or Islamic thinkers expose the joint alliance between Washington and Israel."
King Fahd has recently criticized the "campaign by countries or a country" he did not name against Saudi Arabia.
Recent reports have suggested that there is a debate within the Saudi ruling family about expanding popular political participation at a time when threats against the region's security were mounting.
Asked about these reports, Prince Sultan said, "those who are threatening the region and have ambitions in its wealth, people and stability, believe" they can fulfill popular wishes by overthrowing governments.
He said the "crime of invading Kuwait in the summer of 1990 for example revealed an important political truth: the governments in the Gulf did not come from behind the ranks or by military coup d'etat under darkness. They were born and grew up with the people for more than two centuries, sharing interests, ordeals and bitter events."
