JEDDAH, 14 April 2005 — An energetic 34-year-old public relations professional, Majid Al-Ayed saw the forthcoming municipal elections as an opportunity both for him and the country to change. “We have gone beyond the initial infrastructure building of the Kingdom,” he said. “The needs of the country have changed.”
He sees the elections as the first step in that process of change. “We cannot have an exclusively top down approach anymore,” he told Arab News yesterday. “There has to be more interaction between the people and the government. There are a number of ways of doing this — the best today is through elections.”
Al-Ayed, a registered candidate contesting the Jeddah municipal elections, sees Saudi Arabia at a crossroads. “What we do for the next two or three years will define what will happen for future generations whether we like it or not.” Becoming involved in the decision-making process by empowering the people to solicit their input and take responsibility at some level, he feels, is one of the valuable outcomes of the elections.
Al-Ayed recognizes that Saudi Arabia exists and operates in a global context. He separates very clearly the environments of tradition and religion. He said there had to be flexibility in tradition; he is not against tradition and culture, “but if it is going to stagnate society, then we do away with it.”
“Things happen in the rest of the world we cannot control and we have to adjust ourselves to these realities. I will adjust to realities — but not if it means contravening Islamic law.”
Al-Ayed regards the priorities of a generation ago as different from today and in many areas the Kingdom has not realigned itself to current needs. “There needs to be a realignment — it cannot come from the top — we cannot expect the government to do everything. The people have to start participating.” It is, he says, about empowering people to get involved, take decisions and the consequent responsibility.
One of the platforms Al-Ayed is standing on is the issue of the social pressure brought on by the increasingly youthful profile of the Saudi population. He feels there are issues and challenges with the young that are not being addressed and must be. “If we leave it undone and put our heads in the sand, 10 years from now we will have a major problem that will need draconian measures to fix.”
One particular area he wants the municipality to address is the lack of opportunities for young people to lead a social life in the community. “There is simply nothing for them to do,” he said.
Al-Ayed thinks that involving the private sector in building and operating social facilities, with the municipality providing land is a viable prospect. As the business landscape of the Kingdom changes, companies will have to consider good corporate citizenship as part of their business plan and the building and operation of sports, social and other centers would yield profit in the form of enhanced brand equity. “Young people do want to be involved,” he said. “We have to give them that opportunity.”
The private sector should also be involved in the business operations of the municipality. “Public sector is inefficient — should not be in the business of business or investment. They should be in the business of oversight and regulation,” said Al-Ayed. Because the public sector has traditionally absorbed graduates who were unable to find jobs elsewhere, a top heavy bureaucracy has developed and this hampers operations.
“The private sector should take over many of the services — for example water and electricity and transportation,” he said.
Al-Ayed’s drive for the separation of municipal and private operations extends to an imaginative recycling program, involving city-wide collection of waste paper to be recycled. The long-term effects — power and water saving — could generate a revenue stream to initiate finance for other plans he has.
Young for a politician — even a local municipal politician — Al-Ayed exudes energy and ideas. “We are all new to the idea of elections,” he said. “But even though some dismiss them as useless and the registration was low, the longest journey begins with a single first step. This is it.”
