Landmark
Civic Polls Start Today
Raid Qusti & Nasser Al-Salti, Arab News
RIYADH, 10 February 2005
— Saudi citizens are set to cast their first ballots in history
when Riyadh region goes to the polls in the first of a landmark
municipal elections.
Today’s polls in Riyadh
and surrounding areas are the first of three rounds that will
eventually see elected representatives take up half the seats on 178
municipal councils across Saudi Arabia.
|
The
remaining seats will be filled by government appointees. The
rest of the country will vote in March and April.
Around 148,000 male
voters are to elect half the 38 councils in the Riyadh region.
A total of 1,818
candidates are running in the first round, 646 of whom are
competing for just seven seats on the capital’s council. A
total of 104 seats are up for grabs in the ballot. |
|
Election
Timetable |
o
Phase 1 - Feb 10 (Riyadh Region)
o Phase 2 - Mar 3 (Eastern Province, Asir,
Jizan, Najran, and Baha Regions)
o Phase 3 - Apr 21 (Makkah, Madina,
Al-Qassim, Tabuk, Hail, Al-Jouf, and the
Northern Frontier Regions) |
|
|
Women are excluded from the
elections, either as voters or candidates. But the mayor of Riyadh
and chairman of the local committee for elections, Prince Abdul Aziz
Al-Ayyaf, said he would recommend to higher authorities that they be
included in the next round, four years from now.
Speaking
at a press conference held yesterday at the media center of the
Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs, Prince Mansoor ibn
Miteb, chairman of Election Commission, added to the mayor’s
statement that the municipality law in Saudi Arabia does not prevent
women from either voting or contesting elections.
Reflecting on what was said
by certain media networks that Saudi Arabia missed the opportunity
by excluding women from the elections, Prince Mansoor said: “The
government intended to go with the elections without the involvement
of women due to the lack of trained women and the lack of
infrastructure needed for the establishment of segregated women’s
ballot centers in the Kingdom.”
|
“You
know in Saudi Arabia we have to have segregated centers for
women due to social aspects,” he pointed out. The prince
said that due to the lack of time, which was one year set by
the government, it was difficult for the government to employ
women in cities and rural areas to receive women voters.
|
|
Election
Details |
o
Total Councils - 17
o Total Seats - 592 |
|
|
“The issue will be
scrutinized in the next round. And it is up to the royal court and
higher authorities to decide if the time is suitable for women to be
appointed or allowed to cast their votes in the second round,”
said Dr. Saleh Al-Malik, a member of the Election Commission.
“It is beyond the
jurisdiction of the Election Commission,” Muhammad Al-Nagadi,
deputy chairman of the commission, added.
Asked why heads of
districts were banned from contesting on the ground of conflict of
interests while real estate agents were not, Prince Abdul Aziz
replied: “We are dealing with laws and regulations. And it is
quite evident that district chiefs will not run for elections as
they may combine both executive and supervisory positions. However,
in the case of real estate agents, the law allows them to run as
long as they do not have business deals with municipalities.”
|
To a
question whether the municipal elections would be a first step
toward progress and more democracy in the Kingdom, Prince
Mansoor said: “As a citizen I hope my government will
proceed with what is best for the people as long as it does
not contradict or violate the Islamic religion.”
|
|
Phase
1 - Feb 10 - Riyadh |
o
Councils - 38
o Seats -104
o Candidates - 1,818 |
|
|
“The second deputy
premier recently announced that the Shoura Council would be expanded
to include 150 members. Just twelve years ago there were only 60.
And now it is two-and-a-half times that figure. And in two months
there will be 150. We believe the municipal council, the
consultative council, and the human rights association all these
institutions are moving toward democracy, where decisions are being
institutionalized,” Dr. Al-Malek added.
About the number of voters,
candidates, poll centers, and precincts, Nagadi said that in two
stages the number of people who registered were 470,000. In the
first phase 150,000 voters were registered and the second phase saw
320,000 registrations.
In Riyadh city, the number
of voters registered was 86,000 in seven precincts covering 73
centers.
“The number of candidates
registered in the city was 640. And the number of members for the
municipal council is 14, seven of them will be appointed and seven
will be elected,” said Prince Abdul Aziz.
“In the region of Riyadh
there will be 37 municipal councils. There are 140,000 voters and
about 1,000 candidates of whom 127 will be elected for the region of
Riyadh,” he added.
|
On the implementation,
coordination, and supervision of the elections, Prince Mansoor said:
“Committees from civil societies including the Saudi Association
for Journalists, Saudi Management Administration Association,
National Society for Human Rights and others have set up a mechanism
to watch over the elections. They are totally and financially
independent. Our role is just to facilitate their function, by
giving passes that enable them to do their work. We do not interfere
with their job. After they complete their tasks they will submit
their final report to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of
Information.”
Prince Abdul Aziz said that
preliminary results would be announced this evening, but added that
at no cost should the preliminary announcement mean that they are
the final results. Final results are to be announced tomorrow
(Friday). |
Saudi
Arabian Elections
By Thomas W.
Lippman
Decades ago, at the
start of my life in journalism, a wise old editor
cautioned me never to use the word
"unprecedented" in a newspaper article.
Every time we say something is unprecedented, he
said, we hear right away from readers telling us
about the last time it happened.
I was reminded of
that conversation recently as I read news accounts
about Saudi Arabia's announcement that it would soon
hold elections for municipal councils. All the
articles I read said the elections would be the
first in Saudi history--that is, unprecedented.
[more] |
|
Asked about the reasons of
the substantial differences between the total number of voters in
the Riyadh region and of that in the Eastern Province, Prince
Mansoor attributed the larger number in the Eastern Province to the
efforts exerted by the local committee’s chairman Prince Abdul
Aziz Al-Muqrin.
“Other factors are that
citizens have realized that elections have become a tangible fact,
“ added Dr. Saleh Al-Malek.
Asked about a satisfactory
percentage of voters, Prince Mansoor said: “There is no clear-cut
percentage. And we cannot compare this election to any other
election because this is the first. In Saudi Arabia, voting is
voluntary. It is not mandatory as in other countries, like for
example in Jordan. Also, in other countries elections are combined
with other regional/state elections like what is going on in the
United States. Therefore, we cannot pinpoint a certain
percentage.”
Reprinted with permission
A hint of
democracy is cast in Saudi election - AP
"When Saudis in the Riyadh region vote today in the
country's first nationwide elections, they will have registration
cards, vote behind privacy curtains, drop ballots in boxes designed
according to international standards and choose among candidates who
ran Western-style campaigns, including posters, phone text messages
and newspaper ads.." [more]
Saudi
Arabia Holds First-Ever Election - VOA
"Voting is
underway for Saudi men only in the first phase of the country's
first-ever municipal election. The voting Thursday is taking
place in and around the capital, Riyadh.." [more]
Saudis Vote in Historic Election - BBC
"Saudi Arabia is holding its first nationwide municipal
elections, as the government aims to introduce elements of democracy
in the desert kingdom.." [more]
Saudis
vote nationwide - IHT/NYTimes
"Riyadh - It
is not exactly a democratic revolution - the elections Thursday were
for only half the members of municipal councils and women were not
allowed to vote. Still, Saudi Arabia embarked on its first
nationwide voting, and the exercise may end up being more than
symbolic.." [more]
Saudi
Arabia's landmark elections kick off in Riyadh - AlJazeera
"'It took a long time to get here but we've broken through a
psychological barrier that we couldn't deal with ballot boxes,' said
Sulaiman Enezi, a university professor, after casting his vote.."
[more]
In
Saudis' first nationwide poll, candidates test limits - CSMonitor
"RIYADH,
SAUDI ARABIA –
Salman
al-Sulaiman, a candidate in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide
municipal elections, tries to explain to a young man why he thinks
women should finally be allowed to drive. But the young man furrows
his brow in concentration and says what many here think of Mr.
Sulaiman's idea. "I will not vote for you unless you take that
issue off your platform," he says.." [more]
Q&A - Saudi Municipal Elections - BBC
"Saudis vote on Thursday in phase one of their first ever
municipal elections, seen as a bid to answer calls for greater
democracy.." [more]
[more articles
above, right]
Saudi
Municipal Elections Open
