Friday, March 04, 2005
2nd round of Saudi polls gets off to brisk start
DAMMAM: Voting in the second round of landmark municipal elections in Saudi Arabia got off to a brisk start Thursday in areas populated by the Shia Muslim minority in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Police had to close the gate to one overcrowded polling center as men queued up to cast their ballots in an election that marks a first tentative step towards democracy in Saudi Arabia but remains barred to women. Polling stations opened across the oil-rich Eastern Province and southwestern regions of the country in the second round of three-stage elections to pick half the members of 178 municipal councils, the first nationwide polls in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. The other half will be appointed by the government.
Sheikh Hassan al-Safar, the most prominent Saudi Shia figure, has urged registered voters to cast their “valuable” ballots, citing the Iraqi elections in January as an example of the importance of participation. “The majority of Iraqis... went out to vote despite dangers... Thanks to Allah, we live in a peaceful country, so we should not be apathetic,” Safar told would-be voters in a campaigning center recently.
Saudi Shias, who make up more than 10 percent of the native population of around 17 million, appear to have jumped at the chance offered by the local polls to fight the marginalization they have suffered in the Sunni-dominated kingdom. afp
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved