King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, said here Saturday that “responsible freedom” was the right of every person who loves this country. Delivering the annual address to the Shoura Council, the King said freedom entails constructive and balanced criticism. “Responsibility is an uncompromising trust with which we maintain our freedom and define our goals. By virtue of this freedom and responsibility, we tell the world these are our values and noble characters which we derive from our faith,” he said. The King said he had never been hesitant to criticize himself because of the responsibility he has been shouldering. In his address to 150-member consultative body attended by Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the King highlighted the achievements witnessed by the Kingdom and laid-out policies. “When the government draws up its policies and programs it takes into consideration the public interest besides their needs,” he said. Keeping this in mind a number of commissions, government administrations and national societies which care for the citizens' affairs and interests including the Anti-corruption Commission, General Authority for Housing, Society for the Protection of Consumers have been established. He said political stability is essential for growth and development of a country. “We have worked out a mechanism for succession by issuing the Allegiance Commission System and its executive regulation besides allocating SR7 billion for the development of the judicial system in the country.” In the economic field, he said the government has worked hard to improve and develop the existing infrastructure projects besides approving new projects in different sectors in a way to maintain balanced development in various regions. An amount of SR165 billion has been allocated in this year's budget for the new and existing projects which will contribute in increasing the economic growth and create new job opportunities. The education and training sector has received due attention. The King also stressed that higher education has witnessed a quantum leap as the number of universities significantly increased covering all the regions. The King commended the brave security men for their successive achievements in dismantling the deviant cells and drying up their financial resources besides exposing the reality of their ideology. He expressed his thanks and appreciation to these security men and prayed to Allah to bestow mercy on the martyrs. __
