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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
Saudi Arabia consisted of fourteen provinces, or amirates
(see
fig. 1), each governed by an amir (governor) appointed by
the king. In 1992 these amirates included Al Banah, Al Hudud ash
Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Al Qurayyat, Ar
Riyadh, Ash Sharqiyah, Asir, Hail, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, and
Tabuk. The larger, more populous amirates were subdivided into
districts and subdistricts.
In theory, the governors were responsible to the minister of
interior. In practice, however, the governors usually reported
directly to the king. In 1992 all amirate governors and most of
their deputies were members of the Al Saud. King Fahd's brothers,
sons, and nephews ruled the most politically important amirates;
other kin ruled the smaller amirates. The governors maintained
administrative offices in the principal cities of their
respective amirates, although none of these cities was designated
a capital. The governors' principal responsibility was to oversee
the work of both central government and municipal officials
within the amirates. The governors also served as commanders of
the local police and Saudi Arabian National Guard units and
supervised the recruitment of local men for these security forces
(see Saudi Arabian National Guard
, ch. 5). In addition, each
governor followed the example of the king and held a public
majlis, often on a daily basis, at which he heard petitions from
local residents. Typically, the petitions pertained to local
disputes, which the governor either arbitrated or referred to an
appropriate court. Some governors considered the majlis an
important link between the people and government and employed
several special assistants who investigated local disputes and
grievances.
The governors were assisted by one, or sometimes two,
deputies and, in some amirates, by one or more deputy assistant
governors. In amirates that were subdivided into districts, the
district officials were subordinate to the amirate governors. The
mayors of each city, town, and village within an amirate were
formally responsible to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural
Affairs, although in practice they also were subordinate to the
governor. Since the 1960s, the Al Saud princes have discussed the
merits of creating amirate councils, elected or appointed bodies
of local men to advise and assist the governors. In early 1992,
King Fahd announced that he would appoint councils in each
amirate; these councils would assume limited local authority over
some central government functions.
Data as of December 1992
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