JEDDAH, 19 October 2005 — The outcome of last April’s municipal elections is still being questioned in court with a third lawsuit filed yesterday against one of the winning candidates.
A group of defeated candidates complain that 12 contestants who were on what is called the “Golden List” won only because of endorsement by certain religious scholars. Because of this, the defeated candidates have filed a lawsuit in the court of grievances questioning the legality of the elections’ outcome.
The lawsuit filed last month against the “Golden List” winner, Dr. Abdul Rahman Yamani accusing him of slander was in addition to the original lawsuit.
A third lawsuit was filed yesterday by some of the defeated candidates against Dr. Hussein Al-Bar accusing him of calling them “unbelievers.”
A spokesman for the defeated candidates, Ehab Al-Solaimani, said that there are witnesses who actually heard Dr. Al-Bar quoting a verse from the Qur’an at a number of public gatherings that explained why those on the “Golden List” won the elections. The verse states: “Not equal are the dwellers of the fire and the dwellers of the paradise. It is the dwellers of paradise that will be successful.”
Al-Solaimani said that such a public statement by Dr. Al-Bar was completely unacceptable. “The man accused us of not believing in God!”
Dr. Al-Bar in a phone conversation with Arab News denied completely that he had quoted the Qur’anic verse. “ It is all a lie; I never said anything close to this. How can anyone say such a thing?”
He added that such a thing would not even cross the mind of any sane Muslim. Dr. Al-Bar said he would certainly appear in court to contest the false claims.
The summary court in Jeddah accepted the lawsuit against Dr. Al-Bar yesterday. The plaintiffs will be told the exact time of the first court hearing and the name of the presiding judge today.
The latest development concerning the case of Dr. Yamani who was accused of slander by the defeated candidates also occurred yesterday. Last month the group of defeated candidates filed a lawsuit against Dr. Yamani for a statement he allegedly made to Agence France Presse after his victory. The controversial statement is: “Saudis are religious people and secularists are unacceptable in our society.”
Dr. Yamani’s attorney, Basem A’alem, asked the judge to transfer the case to the Ministry of Information and Culture. A’alem argued that in cases involving the media, the decision of the summary court is often reversed by the appeals court. The judge asked both the plaintiffs and the defendants to meet in the middle of Ramadan to decide whether to hear the case in the summary court or transfer it to the ministry.
Yesterday Judge Ibrahim Al-Jarboua told the plaintiffs that he had sent a letter to the minister of justice asking for a ministerial recommendation. But the plaintiff’s spokesman, Al-Solaimani, said the issue was a personal one and the media had nothing to do with it. He added that the plaintiffs had sent a telegram to the minister of justice asking him to look into their case. The case is thus on hold until a decision by the minister of justice.
Other than these lawsuits, the defeated candidates have another one in which they complain in general about the elections. That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 15.
