With the historic elections of Thursday, Friday’s papers in Saudi Arabia are offer wall-to-wall coverage. Instead of noting each article as a separate entry, the different articles are all listed below, with comment where appropriate.

Saudis Vote in Historic Election

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — February 10 will go down in the books as the day Saudi citizens exercised their voting rights. In the first-ever elections held in the country, citizens over 21 headed to polling centers early in the day to choose their representatives for the Riyadh Municipal Council.

An average 82 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in Riyadh, according to Muhammad Al-Nagadi, deputy chairman of the Election Commission. The number was larger in the province of Riyadh where “93 percent voted, which is one of the highest turnouts in the world,” he added.

Polling stations closed in and around Riyadh at 5 p.m., nine hours after voters started flocking into the centers to pick half the members of 38 municipal councils (a total of 104 candidates) in the region.

The voting took place in a relaxed atmosphere amid low-key security. The Election Supervision Council confirmed the voting went off smoothly. “We have deployed 240 trained supervisors at polling stations in and around Riyadh to ensure that voting and counting are held properly and fairly,” said Bandar Al-Hejar, chairman of the council.

About 150,000 men out of 470,000 eligible voters registered to cast ballots in the first round of the three-phase elections, in which half the members of 178 municipal councils will be elected across the Kingdom. The other half will be appointed by the government….

This is a straight-up news report, citing statistics about how many voted, how the polling went, general attitudes. A reliable news story.

Women Can’t Be Left Far Behind
Raid Qusti & Nasser Al-Salti, Arab News

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — There was a mixed reaction among voters yesterday when Arab News asked them if they wanted to see women included in the next round of municipal elections as voters or candidates.

Views varied between supporters of the move, and others who said women do not need to vote as their husbands, fathers, or brothers are doing the job on their behalf.

Yet another group rejected the idea on the ground that Saudi Arabia has its own cultural and social aspects. A few did not specify their reasons, and said there was no need for their involvement. Asked about the absence of women from the election scene, Dr. Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Thunayan, a Shoura Council member and professor of pedagogy, replied: “I was asked the same question by a woman journalist from the West and I said, ‘First of all, there are six million women in Saudi Arabia. I, as a member of the Shoura Council, a husband and a father, represent a large number of women voters in the Kingdom. And as we know, democracy is about majority. And if we go and ask six million women what they want, they would answer that they do not want to vote. They either want their men to vote for them, or do not want to vote at all. Women in Saudi Arabia are comfortable being represented by men….

This one’s a bit infuriating. By running quotations from Al-Thunayan, and later from a Khaled Mushabab, they’re made to look like patronizing idiots, whether that was intended or not. Deep into the article are comments that seem more rational, at least to a Westerner.

High Hopes Abound for Fledgling Reforms
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — Voters turned out in droves yesterday as Saudi Arabia took the first step on the road to reforms by holding the first-ever municipal elections.

This is a stepping stone for democracy, and voters feel that they have their rights to send their representative to the council to represent people’s interests,” said Waleed Al-Swaidan, chairman of the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM).

Al-Swaidan, who was re-elected chairman of SANARCOM last week, said the people’s interest in the election process was demonstrated by their early arrivals at the polling stations.

“Some of those who didn’t register at the election offices feel out of place today since they realize that they lost their opportunity to exercise their civil rights,” Al-Swaidan told Arab News. He said he believed the situation would improve in future polls, however….

Waleed Al-Swaidan is a Saudi who thinks these elections are important. His take on the process is worth reading, particularly when he talks about how others see the elections as a first step in meeting their political aspirations.

They Failed to Connect With Us, Say Youth
Javid Hassan & Abdul Hannan Faisal Tago, Arab News

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — The Kingdom’s first-ever municipal elections in Riyadh were characterized by a somewhat lukewarm response on the part of Saudi youth. Except in the Al-Naseem district, where they turned up in large numbers, not many young Saudis were present in other constituencies.

According to Mansour Al-Turki, student of King Saud University, one of the main factors for their indifference was the fact that none of the campaign issues — cleaner environment, solving traffic problems, building shelters for flash floods, eradicating corruption, etc — touched the youth.

Abdullah Al-Khulafi, a student at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, said the poor turnout of young voters was despite the fact that they constitute almost 60 percent of the Kingdom’s population.

Ammar Omar, a 20-year-old student at King Saud University, said: “What I am expecting from the candidates is to establish a youth club with sports facilities in every district.

This will be in the interest of the youth who waste time doing nothing.” Ammar, one of the few Saudi youth to vote in the elections, said many in his age group abstained from voting largely because the candidates made no effort to reach out to them. “They failed to connect with us. They
did not couch their campaign rhetoric in the idiom that would have gone down well with us.”

Getting out the youth vote looks to have been as difficult in Saudi Arabia as it was in the US. This is an interesting piece, worth reading. I found it striking that the young men seem to prefer to abstain if there’s nothing directly in it for them, rather than to take part and work from the inside. That’s a question that bedevils youth everywhere.

Poll Agents Out in Force to Sway Voters
Muneef Al-Safouqi, Asharq Al-Awsat/Arab News

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — Agents of candidates tried to canvass as many votes as possible for their favorites, stationing themselves outside polling stations since morning and until 5 p.m. when they were closed. Many candidates had deployed a large number of people to mobilize support for them, especially professional marketing executives who are capable of influencing people.

It does appear that some were paying attention to how the US presidential elections was conducted. “Get out the vote” efforts seem to have had some effect, as well.

We Are Delighted, Say Voters in Unison
Raid Qusti & Nasser Al-Salti, Arab News

RIYADH, 11 February 2005 — Voters interviewed by Arab News yesterday expressed satisfaction on the smooth process of balloting. They also commended the well-organized process and hoped that one day this would reflect positively on the operation and performance of municipalities. It took most of the voters less than five minutes to process their papers and cast their votes.

Voters said that this was a historic day for Saudi Arabia and that their voting stemmed from their aspirations and national duty.

They also agreed that this was a first experience for the Kingdom and that the country should learn from it.

“From the moment you enter the polling station to the moment you leave, you find that everything is very well organized,” said AbdulAziz ibn Abdullah, a local resident.

“The entire process takes between a minute and two. What we want to see in the future is a continuation of this organizational system. This first round will set a standard and benchmark for future elections,” he added.

“I feel like any citizen who has come here today to cast his vote; that I have the right to choose,” said a government employee who did not want to be named.

And this article tells of voters who are very pleased with what they’ve done and the new future they see before them. Also a very good piece.

The always astute Amir Taheri reports on the elections here, noting that this is the first step of an evolutionary process, but that step has been made. There’s no going back; alea jacta est.