JEDDAH, 17 April 2005 — Twenty-one candidates contesting the April 21 elections to the Municipal Council in Jeddah have complained to authorities against seven candidates for allegedly being promoted by popular Islamic scholars in the country.
Dr. Muhammad Badaiwi, one of the 21 candidates, told Arab News that the scholars’ recommendations to vote for the seven violated election regulations. They are worried as the scholars could influence voters like they did in Riyadh.
The seven candidates who drew complaints from their rivals are: Bassam Akhdar, Basim Al-Sharief, Hassan Al-Zahrani, Dr. Rabah Al-Dhahiry, Hussein Baaqeel, Dr. Hussein Al-Bar and Dr. Abdul Rahman Yamani.
“There are 530 candidates, among them the scholars have recommended only seven saying they are the best. By doing so, the scholars are indirectly undermining the reputation of other candidates,” Musaed Al-Khamis, one of the candidates lodging the complaint, said.
He was referring to an Internet newsletter report in which 10 prominent religious scholars including Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, Muhammad Al-Sharief and Dr. Saeed Al-Ghamdi recommended the seven candidates.
Essam Baghaffar, another candidate contesting in constituency No. 2, asked on what basis the scholars had recommended the seven. “Did they review the professional qualifications of the seven in comparison with other candidates?” he asked.
The plaintiffs have sought legal assistance and Hussein Bundagji said they did it to avoid any negative effect on their candidature. “We don’t want to hear that the Islamists do not deserve to win or can win only through recommendation,” he added.
Wasif Kabli was angry at the religious scholars for interfering in every matter. “We reject racism and the dominance of the religious movement in every matter, small and big. This will create division among people,” he added.
Ahmed Al-Khelawi, in charge of elections at New Jeddah Municipality, told the 21 to fill the specified form to lodge their complaints five days before election, which is scheduled for April 21.
In February, candidates who lost elections in Riyadh described the winners as Islamists but the victorious candidates dismissed the accusation, insisting that they represented mainstream Muslim society.
Dr. Ibrahim ibn Hamad Al-Quayid, a prominent academic who was among the seven winners in Riyadh, said out of the seven five have doctorates and four of them are Western-educated. “They are, of course, Muslims and represent mainstream Muslim society not any extremist ideology,” he added.
The religious scholars’ patronage to certain contestants has sent ripples of diverse reactions among voters and candidates as campaigning picks up pace. The list of candidates enjoying the scholars’ patronage has been tossed between mobile phones ever since the start of campaigning.
A number of candidates and voters in the Western Region voiced their opinions to Arab News.
Dr. Faisal Hassan Maddah, a candidate from the Makkah region, believes that the recommendation was very unprofessional. He believes that the list eliminates the idea of equality in the electoral race.
Maddah said, “In the electoral race, all people must be equal and should never have an external influence. Recommendations should never exist it is not a marriage ceremony. In marriages, families tend to get some recommendations on grooms or suitors that they do not know. I may also recommend a person to be appointed to a new job because I see this man fit. This is election and recommendations should be out of it.”
Maddah believes that the list will sway the voters. “The list will definitely influence some voters and will direct the attention of voters toward a certain group of people. If I am not recommended by these people, does that mean that I am not qualified?”
Abdullah Al-Ahmadi, a candidate from the Jeddah region, agreed with Maddah that the list would divert people’s attention and discriminate.
He said, “This is the biggest mistake because it will create two layers of society, a layer of candidates that are recommended and another layer that is not recommended. It will have a negative effect on society because it will create internal divisions.”
The campaign manager of the Hussein Ba Akeel, a candidate whose name appeared on the recommended list, said he did not know anything about the list until he heard about it from a friend. He added, “We did not ask that our candidate be put on that list. We had our program ready before the list was issued.”
“I do not think that our society accepts the idea of municipal elections. I visited many candidates’ campaign sites and didn’t find any huge attendance. Empty places were all that I found. Only those people who had no candidate in mind would be affected by such a list of preferred candidates.”
Arab News asked candidate Waleed Batarji about the recommended list being repeatedly sent and received via text messages.
Batarji angrily denounced the list and said that it would go a long way in influencing voters’ opinions as well as candidates’ campaigns. He said, “One of the sheikhs who recommended these candidates admitted to Okaz newspaper that three out of the seven candidates on the list were his best friends.
Here, this man admits that he recommended his friends, not taking into consideration that there are more than 500 candidates competing fair and square in this new experience.”
He added that list or no list he would not change his campaign strategy. “We will win the elections regardless of the seven people recommended. This list promotes fanaticism and favoritism. I appealed on Saturday objecting to the recommendation and demanded that all the names on the list be eliminated to avoid sectarian bias. If we look at it from another angle, there would be seven candidates appointed and seven recommended. What abut the rest? Are they worthless?” he asked.
“If I am on the recommended list,” said Batarji, “I would either withdraw from the race or advertise on TV and in newspapers denouncing the list. I would say that I enter the race based on my own effort, with my knowledge and experience and before all that, with the help of God. I urge the people of Jeddah not to accept this list and not take it into consideration when making their choices on election day.”
“If anything the list’s made me curious,” said Abu Zaid, a voter. “I’d like to find out more about these candidates. I mean I’d like to find out for myself what was it about these candidates that made the scholars speak favorably about them?”
“This list has come to me 3 times so far on my mobile,” said 32-year-old Abdullah, an employee at the Ministry of Health. “One or two scholars’ names are familiar but the candidates’ names are totally alien to me. Sure I trust the scholars but they’re human at the end of the day.”
— With input from Mahmoud Ahmad, Somayya Jabarti, Hasan Adawi & Abdul Maqsood Mirza
