RIYADH,
October 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia said
Monday, October 13, it would hold the first partial municipal
elections within a year, but the move drew mixed reactions in the
oil-rich Kingdom.
"The
Saudi cabinet decided to broaden citizens' participation in running
local affairs through elections, through activating municipal councils
... electing half the members of each council," the official
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
"The
cabinet said the sides concerned should complete measures (to conduct
the polls) within a maximum of one year," SPA added.
The
partial municipal polls will be the first national elections in the
oil-rich kingdom, against the current process in which ballots are
only held to choose some members of the governing boards of chambers
of commerce and industry.
However,
the move has drawn different reactions in the Islamic Kingdom, as some
skeptics said the decision came to face growing demands from the
United States and Saudi liberals to pursue democratic reforms.
"It
is necessary to begin a process of radical and overall reforms,"
said 305 signatories of a petition sent last month to Crown Prince
Abdullah and carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Fifty-one
women were among the signatories, an unprecedented event in the
male-dominated Saudi society.
The
signatories, who included intellectuals, academics and businessmen,
condemned "terrorism in all its forms," but said "the
delay in adopting radical reform and the absence of popular
consultation in decision-making" were among the causes of
domestic violence.
Washington
has alleged 15 of the hijackers of the September 11 attacks are
Saudis.
“The
decision is a positive development to turn the political activism from
mosques, restrained anger and violence to ballots,” lawyer
Abdel-Aziz Al-Qassem told IslamOnline.net.
Qassem
said the move opens the eyes of the Saudi citizen to “the concept of
free elections to be the first down the history of the kingdom”.
‘Other
Steps’
Mohammad
Said al-Tayyeb, a liberal intellectual who had a major input in the
petition, described the proposed partial municipal polls as "a
major step on the road to political reform and the achievement of
popular participation" in public life.
But
he hoped “it will be followed by other steps, such as electing the
provincial councils (grouping notables in the country's 13 provinces)
or electing the Shura Council".
The
120-member Shura Council is appointed by King Fahd who in the early
1990s issued three decrees outlining the basic statutes of government
in the country.
Abdullah
Al-Subeih, a psychology professor in Riyadh, said the move could be
seen as a “confidence-building measure” between the citizen and
the government.
“The
Saudi decision comes on the only way to facing internal and external
challenges,” Mohamed Said Al-Tayyip, a Saudi lawyer.
‘Means
Nothing’
On
the other hand, some opposition members said holding elections means
little in the absence of basic freedoms.
Monday's
announcement that polls to elect half the members of municipal
councils would be held within a year "means nothing so long as
there is no freedom of expression or assembly," Saad al-Faqih of
the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform said.
Faqih
said the Saudi government had yet to deliver on a three-year-old
promise to set up a human rights committee.
"The
Saudi government announced more than three years ago that a committee
for the defense of human rights would be set up 'soon,' but that
committee has yet to see the light," the Islamic dissident said.
He
was referring to an April 2000 announcement by Saudi Interior Minister
Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz that two human rights committees, one
affiliated to the government and the other private, would be formed in
the near future.
King
Fahd approved the creation of the non-governmental organization, and
pledged that the kingdom would push through political reforms and
expand popular participation, but insisted this was not the result of
external pressure.
"I
wish to assure you that we will proceed on the path of political and
administrative reforms... and expand the scope of popular
participation and open more areas for women employment," he told
the Shura Council.
Human
rights
On
Monday evening, a human rights conference got under way in Riyadh,
another first in the kingdom.
In
early August, Saudi authorities announced plans to create a new
institute to promote dialogue in society.
In
January, a team from New York-based Human Rights Watch became the
first international independent human rights group to visit the
oil-rich country and said then that Riyadh signaled its intent to
implement tougher human rights standards.
