Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz inaugurated on Wednesday the second year of the seventh session of the Shura Council at the Council's headquarters in Riyadh, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
Upon arrival at the venue, the King was received by Prince Abdulilah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Special advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh region, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior, the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and President of Council of Senior Scholars and General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, the Speaker of the Shura Council Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh, senior officials and the heads of the committees of the Shura Council.
King Salman then delivered his address to the gatherers, saying: “The Kingdom since its foundation by late King Abdulaziz has applied Sharia, adhered to the Islamic religion and justice in all matters, and adopted the principle of Shura (consultation).
“As the Kingdom's Vision 2030 includes developmental plans and programs aiming at preparing the Kingdom for the promising future and for achieving the vision's objectives, some government agencies have been restructured and a number of decisions have been taken to serve the interests of the society, strengthen the homeland's security, combat corruption and increase the participation of male and female citizens in the national development.
“We appreciate the role of the private sector as an important partner in development, its support for the national economy, expanding in employing the homeland's male and female youths, and localizing the industry and will continue to empower the private sector and stimulate it to achieve further growth and development.
“I have directed ministers and officials to facilitate procedures, provide further services of high quality for male and female citizens, expand in a number of programs affecting main needs of citizens, notably the most important one is the housing program.
“Corruption, in all its kinds and forms, is a severe lesion that undermines societies and prevents their development and growth, and we are determined to confront it in a fair and firm way so that our country enjoys the renaissance and development hoped for by every citizen. In this context we ordered to form a supreme committee for public corruption issues under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Crown Prince.
“And what they have made does not prejudice the integrity of honorable citizens of this country of princes, ministers, businessmen, employees and workers at all levels, and in their various positions of responsibility in public and private sectors, as well as residents of workers and investors.
“Your country seeks to develop its present, build its future and move forward on the track of growth, modernization, and continuous development, in a way that does not contradict our principles.
“Our message to all is that there is no place between us for an extremist who sees moderation as degeneration and exploits our tolerant religion to achieve his goals, and there is no place between us for a degenerated one who sees our war on extremism as a means of disseminating decadence and exploits the facilitations of the religion to achieve his goals. We will hold accountable anyone who exceeds that. We are the protectors of the religion and honored with the service Islam and Muslims.
“The Kingdom plays an effective role at regional and international organizations and enjoys a global and regional respect that enabled the timely convening of historical summits in which many leaders of the brotherly and friendly countries participated and established a joint action aimed at achieving security and stability in the region and the world. The Kingdom has continued its pioneering and effective role in combating terrorism and drying up its sources.
“The Kingdom called for a political solution for the crises in the region and resolve its issues, topped by the Palestinian conflict and restoration of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, including the right to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“On this occasion, I would like to reiterate the condemnation of the Kingdom and its deep regret of the US decision on Jerusalem which represents a blatant bias against the historic rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, which have been guaranteed by the relevant international resolutions and have been recognized and supported by the international community.
“The Kingdom is meanwhile working with its allies to confront foreign meddling in the internal affairs of regional countries, which is aimed at fueling sectarian strife and undermining regional security and stability. The Kingdom seeks to consolidate the values of tolerance and coexistence.”
