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The
third phase of voting in Saudi Arabia's municipal elections is
set for today in Makkah,
Madina, Al-Qassim, Tabuk, Hail, Al-Jouf, and the Northern
Frontier Regions.
This item provides an article and links addressing today's
polling and the general issues surrounding the elections in
Saudi Arabia.
Western Region Goes to Polls Today
P.K. Abdul Ghafour & Samir Al-Saadi,
Arab News
JEDDAH, 21 April 2005 � The business city of
Jeddah will go to the polls today with the rest of the Western
Region to elect new municipal councils in Saudi Arabia�s
historic democratic exercise.
As many as 548 candidates are contesting for
seven Jeddah seats, pinning their hopes on some 80,000
registered voters.
Saudis in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah
as well as Taif, Qasim, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Jouf and the Northern
Border Region also go to polls today in the third and final
phase of elections, which began in the Central Region on Feb.
10.
Jeddah mayor and chief election officer Adel
Faqeeh yesterday called upon all registered voters to head to
polling stations to cast their ballots.
�Casting of vote not only reflects the
awareness of the voter but also emphasizes the success of the
election experiment in the Kingdom,� the Saudi Press Agency
quoted the mayor as saying.
He said all preparations have been completed for
the election in Jeddah and nearby governorates of Rabigh,
Khalees, Kamil, Qunfuda and Laith. �Arrangements have been
made to help voters cast their ballots quickly without causing
congestion,� he added.
The elections, considered one of the major
political reforms, are meant to fill half the seats of 178
municipal councils across the country. The government will
appoint the remaining members.
Saudi women have been excluded from the ballot
this time but authorities have promised that they would take
part in the next elections scheduled for 2009. They cited
technical and administrative problems for the current ban.
A total of 244 seats are up for grabs in
today�s elections. In all, more than 4,600 candidates are
courting the votes of some 333,000 Saudi men aged over 21 who
have registered to cast their ballots, according to official
estimates.
Election authorities, meanwhile, rejected a
complaint lodged by 21 candidates against seven contestants that
they had illegally won the endorsement of popular religious
scholars in the country.
�We did not find evidence that the seven candidates
violated election rules,� said Omar Al-Khuli, one of three
legal experts charged with ruling on election disputes in
Jeddah. The seven are running separately in the seven
constituencies of the city, but they have been dubbed the
�golden list� after prominent religious scholars such as
Sheikh Safar Al-Hawali �vouched for them� via Internet
statements and other channels.
�They did not present solid evidence that the seven formed a
coalition. Endorsement per se does not constitute a
violation,� Khuli said. �All the seven have totally denied
that there was any sort of support or coordination among them in
their election programs or campaigns,� an official statement
issued by the panel said.
�It�s good that there is an impartial
mechanism for people to lodge complaints. This is healthy,�
commented Abdul Rahman Yamani, one of the seven candidates whose
candidacy was challenged by rivals.
Yamani, an industrial and systems engineering
graduate from Stanford and Florida universities, said his name
had appeared on six informal �lists� backed by different
people, which showed he was effectively not into any coalition.
But he implicitly chided liberals who have been
critical of Islamists or complained that Islamic scholars are
trying to dictate to voters. �Businessmen and the intellectual
elite of Jeddah took a negative attitude toward the ballot,
because they believe it will not change much. Now they are
complaining that religious people came together. They should
have been more proactive themselves,� Yamani said.
Another candidate in Jeddah said he planned to
file a lawsuit against the local branch of the election
committee on charges that someone in the committee had
�leaked� the names and mobile phone numbers of registered
voters.
�This information should be either
confidential or available to everyone. As it is, it reached
companies which distribute SMS text messages, who then offered
to circulate messages for candidates for more than $15,000,�
Musaed Al-Khamis said.
Khamis, who runs a documentary production
company, said he had proof of his claim, including messages from
firms offering their services, and he intended to take his case
to authorities.
But the panel looking into complaints said it
was impossible to know or pinpoint the agencies that circulate
SMS and Internet messages. �There are a lot of companies that
provide message services from outside the Kingdom and STC will
not be able to stop or chase them,� the panel said.
Several Saudis have vowed that they will
withdraw support to candidates who bombard them with text
messages seeking their votes. Candidates in Jeddah have spent
more than SR100 million on campaigning, especially advertising.
�The cost of the tent of the candidate I�m working for was
SR200,000 for seven days only, in addition to all the needed
equipment,� a campaign manager said.
�These prices don�t include the meals served
at these tents,� said another campaign official. �Usually
they serve lamb, cooked in different ways, on huge round trays
of rice. The price of a tray is between SR800 and SR1,200 and
some candidates are serving 3-5 trays every evening,� he
explained.
Reprinted with permission of Arab
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