CPSA: A mechanism for decision-making

JEDDAH — The Council of Political and Security Affairs (CPSA), under the chairmanship of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, has made a quantum leap in the process of decision-making in the Kingdom. In a short period of time, the council was able to crystalize plans to deal with the political files and the security challenges in the region. Political observers believe that the council, which is hardly a year old now, has played a decisive role in the formulation of security and political strategies especially under the increasing crises in the region. The council has helped all the institutions take correct decisions on the road towards resolving intricate political and security issues. The political analysts believe that the council has proved its existence and has expressed itself through a strategic vision to enable the Kingdom decide its attitude on the hot political issues in the Middle East and the world at large. The council has enabled Riyadh to play a pivotal role in crisis management and in confronting the grave challenges facing the region. The establishment of this council has canceled 12 council and committees which were doing the same work in the past wasting a lot of time and resources. The CPSA and the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) are both directly answerable to the Council of Ministers. Their establishment was considered a distinguished strategic decision, which has further consolidated the institutional work and has enabled the Kingdom to take quick decisions on all the political, economic, development and security issues. The CPSA was created under a royal decree to substitute the National Security Council (NSC). It gives advice and implement decisions on the Kingdom’s internal and external issues. It has an operation room where a lot of discussions take place before the decisions concerning the political and security matters are issued. The council has a secretariat general manned by a number of competent advisers in all fields and specialties and also has an office for project management located at the secretariat general of the cabinet.