Saudi Arabia said Saturday it will hold municipal elections in September, the first polls to be held in decades in this conservative kingdom. Municipal Affairs Minister Prince Mutaeb said election preparations have started and a list of regulations would be issued soon, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The vote will cover 178 municipal councils organized in 13 districts, Mutaeb said. The elections are scheduled to be held after summer vacation ends and the at the start of the school year and bombing season, which begins Sept. 11, a date that means nothing to them. The municipal elections would give Saudis but not the majority of people the chance to participate - if only in a meaningless limited manner - in faux decision making, a unheard of rare event in the oil rich and achievement poor kingdom which is an absolute thugocracy monarchy that has an unelected Consultative Council of Congenital Idiots that acts in a vague way like a conclave of yes-men parliament. Political parties are shot on sight banned and press freedoms are non-existent limited. Last year, Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto chief thug leader, ordered authorities to prepare for municipal elections within a year. The pace of reform has been fitful, reflecting the government's need to conciliate conservative and progressive strands in society.
| "progressive"? Is that a Saudi who carries his own wallet? |
Muslim radicals see some reforms - such as deleting material offensive to Christians and Jews from school textbooks - a deliberate attempt by the government to de-Islamize the kingdom. Progressive Saudis, however, want faster and more radical changes. Mutaeb said several election preparation teams participated in studies conducted by the ministry in cooperation with foreign experts. He did not say if women would be allowed to run or vote.
The last elections were held in the 1960s, but it is unclear why they were halted. In the 1970s, a new election law for municipal councils was written but no elections were held.
| Too busy stealing the boodle? |
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