Do Saudis have the right to request reforms?

Other than being hand picked by the government for some official posts and the powerless shura council, Saudis have no venues for political participation. However, since the beginning of the 1990s Saudi citizens started petitioning the government for reforms, transparency and the establishment of independent civil society institutions. A new petition circulating on the Internet is echoing the events of 2004 when signatories of an earlier petition were rounded up from their work places and houses and imprisoned for the sole purpose of asking for their legitimate rights. The February Petition, as it is called by some, was published few days after the government arrested 10 reformers, some of them signed the petition before they were sacked by the secret police.

This, I guess, answers the question proposed by this post, do Saudis have right to ask for rights and freedoms? well, the answer should be yes, any citizen must be allowed to activly participate in the development of her/his country, but in the grim reality of Saudi Arabian authoritarianism the answer is: No

+ The text of Constitutional Reform Petition معالم في طريق الملكية الدستورية (Arabic)
(I don't think that any English version exists yet, if so please let me know and I will post it here)

Comments

[hilal_jamali]

I do agree with u . The saudis need to change their attitude towards society & take more responsilibities towards the polical turmoils all over the world .they need to work under team & provide a very challenging atmosphere.

[hilal_jamali]

The saudis ae from the land of prophet mohammed .They are supposed to be the born leaders to lead the world . But unfortunately they have reduced them self to such a sorry state that they need others to guide them .The first thing is that education both islamic as well as professional with high skill , scientific research & development . Both for men & women .the saudis have a rich funds they need to spend it on reserch & development in technology . One good example is india.
The time & moeny what they spend now on this sector will give rich dividents for their next generation . Othr wise in saudi arabia u find less saudis more expats .
TO fix a computer u need expat , to deliver a baby u need an expat, So rise o saudis rise before it is too late & be a laughing stock in the world