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Alarmed by the aggressiveness of the religious extremists, 43 moderate businessmen and intellectuals petitioned Fahd to fulfill his pledge to make the government more democratic. "A Consultative Council is a symbol of participation that will help educate the public," says Abdul Muhsin al-Akkas, an executive of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "We are not yet ready for free elections, but it is a step forward." In response, the religious conservatives marshaled support in the mosques for the implementation of Shari'a. Last month religious leaders in the conservative stronghold of Buraida spread rumors that a popular sheik, Salman al-Oda, had been arrested. Five thousand followers marched on the governor's palace in protest.
The moderates were encouraged when Fahd met in April with four of the 47 women who drove their automobiles last November in defiance of tradition. The women, many of them teachers (one of the few professions open to females), were suspended from their jobs, plagued by anonymous phone calls, threatened with beheading by rabid Muslim preachers and denied permission to leave the - country. Like a stern but forgiving father, Fahd told the women he had to discipline them as he would his own daughters, but hinted that their punishment would soon end. Nonetheless, the issue of women's rights is likely to be deferred until the Consultative Council issue is settled.
To educated middle-class Saudis, who chafe at religious persecution and political disenfranchisement, Fahd's promises have raised hopes of progressive if gradual change. "By next fall," predicts an aide to a senior prince, "there will be a Consultative Council and a major Cabinet reshuffle." The council, consisting of 80 to 100 appointive members, will have limited powers that will not impinge on the absolute authority of the monarch. According to the Saudi adviser, the Cabinet changes will not involve defense and internal security. Fahd's half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, commands the National Guard, and his full brothers, Prince Sultan and Prince Naif, direct the Defense and Interior ministries.
Authority would remain firmly in the hands of the King and his brothers. But in the Saudi tradition, the slightest movement toward liberalization is noteworthy. It was not until the 1960s that slavery was abolished and women were allowed to attend schools. A Consultative Council is a concession to the concept of political dialogue, if not to the principle of power sharing. Fahd, who governs by family consensus, should not shy away from a modest extension of the political franchise, particularly if it represents no dilution of his own power. He might even find it easier to control the religious extremists who pose such a threat, in the moderates' view, to the stability of the kingdom. Despite their endorsement of a Consultative Council, says a Western diplomat, "the religious conservatives correctly perceive that one of its aims is to provide a forum for people to speak out against their excesses."