JEDDAH, 6 March 2005 — Municipal election results in the country’s eastern and southern regions showed that tribal and religious backgrounds played a big role in the victory of many candidates.
In Najran, however, academics swept the elections to the surprise of analysts. The six winners to the council were: Zaid Al-Suleiman, Faraj Al-Mansour, Masoud Haider, Muhammad Al-Saad, Salim Handhel and Mohsen Al-Saqour.
“There were fears that tribalism would prevail in Najran but results have proved that voters picked their candidates judiciously giving priority to their educational background,” said Masoud Haider, a winner in Najran.
Shiite candidates triumphed in some parts of the Eastern Province despite the concerted move by Sunni scholars to mobilize votes for their candidates. “Participation by the Shiites was very high. Our Sunni friends did not really take part as they were supposed to,” said Muhammad Al-Jibran, a resident of Hofouf in Al-Ahsa region.
Khalifa Al-Dossari, who won the largest of 16,000 votes in the province, refuted allegations that the election was fought on religious grounds. “The voters elected the best candidates,” he said, adding that it was the losers who were talking about tribal role.
Saudis in the Eastern Province, Asir, Najran, Jizan and Baha went to polls on Thursday in the second phase of nationwide elections to pick half the members of the Kingdom’s 178 municipal councils.
In the southern resort city of Abha, where voting took place on Thursday, Saad Othman, Muhammad Aamir, Abdullah Al-Shahrani, Abdul Aziz Al-Muthami, Turki Fanis, and Aamir Al-Aamir were elected to the council.
The newly elected council members of Khamis Mushayt are: Saeed Baridi, Walid Abu Milha, Shuail Aaed, Omar Al-Mushait and Hasan Huwaiz. Voters in Bisha elected Abdul Aziz Al-Mulhan, Ali Al-Atiyan, Muhammad Al-Harsh and Abdullah Al-Hajla to the board.
In Jizan, 67 percent of 41,700 registered voters cast their ballots on Thursday. The winners in Jizan town were: Muhammad Al-Attas, Ibrahim Bakri, Muhammad Hunain, Maqbul Hekami, Yasser Duwairy and Abdul Rahman Baash.
