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Saudi Arabia Ambassador Explains that There Is Nothing Hypocritical In Demanding Elections For Syria Since Saudi Citizens Are Content Not To Have Full Democratic Rights, Jonathan Turley’s Blog, Jonathan Turley, March 28, 2016

Saudi Arabia UN Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi has finally resolved the rather glaring inconsistency of the Kingdom demanding elections in Syria while denying full elections to Saudi Arabians. The reason is simple according to Al-Mouallimi: Saudi citizens are the happiest in the world and would not want a democratic choice.

Al-Mouallimi insists that it is entirely unnecessary to given Saudi citizens democratic rights because they are happier “than almost any other country in the world.” Well, perhaps not those religious minorities who are denied a place to worship or those women who must get permission from younger brothers or husbands to travel (and cannot drive) or those girls denied basic opportunities and educational advancement. Then there are those political dissidents who are arrested for questioning the system or the royal family.

In an interview for Al Jazeera by British journalist Mehdi Hasan, Al-Mouallimi insisted that “Elections are not the panacea for everything. Just because there are elections in Syria doesn’t mean there have to be elections in Saudi.”

He added “The key question is: Is the population content and happy and satisfied with the form of government they have and I would like to claim if you went to Saudi Arabia and conducted a survey… you will find a high degree of support for the system.”

This happiness is based on a “mutual acceptance,” which of course does not apply to those political opponents arrested for criticizing the government. Putting aside all those who disagree with the government, Al-Mouallimi explained “I can tell you that mutual acceptance is much higher in Saudi Arabia than almost any other country in the world.”

Political parties remain banned in the Kingdom and questioning the monarchy is illegal.

Source: Independent

This entry was posted on March 28, 2016 at 3:18 PM and is filed under Democracy, Saudi Arabia, Syria. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Democracy, Saudi Arabia, Syria