Saudi Liberals and Election Lessons
Dr. Khaled Batarfi, kbatarfi@al-madina.com

There are many lessons to be learned from the first Saudi municipal elections in decades.
One of the most important is the state of our nation’s consciousness.

It has been difficult in the past to gauge the mindset of the majority. In the absence of scientific research, the answers depended largely on whom you talk to. Islamists would tell you this is a conservative Muslim nation. In the Land of Islam, home to the two holiest mosques, there is no place for liberalism and secularism.

The liberals would advise you to ignore the vocal minority of extremists. Most people, they contend, are fed up with the conservative message and influence but are afraid to alienate them. Given a chance, those people will want to be set free of religious influence and control.

People like myself always felt that the majority is with neither side…

This is an excellent op-ed piece by Khaled Batarfi, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Madina the Saudi, Arabic language newspaper, from that city. I recommend you read the whole thing.

In it, Batarfi makes the case that the real winners of the recently-concluded Saudi elections were the Saudi people. They didn’t elect extremists, though they did elect religious conservatives–people like them. They didn’t elect extreme liberal reformers because they’re not ready for extreme liberal reform; it scares them.

But they did elect people with personal records of achievement in local issues, exactly what the positions on the Municipal Councils required.

They also gained valuable experience in exercising their rights to determine their own futures. That experience is going to be put to use in the elections that take place over the coming years.

This piece is also posted at Blogger News Network