It is “that time of the year” again.
Nearly four years ago, my country Saudi Arabia ventured into its first political campaign to elect members for its 178 municipal councils (MC) Kingdomwide. Four years ago we got away with operational and scheduling delays because of our inexperience in the democratic processes of campaigns and elections; today, local and international eyes are turning toward us to see if we will fall into the same pitfalls.
The question I ask myself time and again is: Are we?
It is believed that the shortcomings of four years ago were due to three main factors. The first was the sudden and unprecedented announcement of the decision to hold partial elections to create 178 municipal councils. The second was the presumptions that we, the public, were seasoned and prepared to successfully carry out the complex activities of campaigns and elections. And the third was the narrow timeframe (three months) that was assigned for carrying out the electoral process in a country where this process was completely new.
Collectively, these factors forced us into a “hasty” mode of getting the job done. This need for “haste” blinded us to the fact that a significant change was taking place — a change that sought to empower Saudi citizens to participate in the decision-making process of their communities through the formal division of roles and responsibilities between citizens, public officials and local government entities. It is through this process of popular elections for civil representation that the first seeds of “organized” civil societies are planted.
In any case, whatever the pitfalls, the fact remains that Saudi Arabia is committed to its agenda of political reform. The mere creation of 178 MCs in 2005 — and by popular vote — is a living proof of that commitment. The challenge for us now is to make this commitment sustainable and worthwhile.
As the first term for the members of the MCs comes to an end, most of us are asking the question of “what’s next”. To date, no one knows how this new experiment will go down in history. To date, no one knows if the pioneering elected officials were able to live up to the promises they made to their constituents over three years ago. To date, no one knows of the bureaucratic hardships and red tape that the elected officials had to comply with, or overcome. And more important, no one knows if corrective measures are in place to guarantee the participation of women in this nationalistic endeavor this time around... or if I dare ask, will women once again be conveniently excluded due to “technical” details. I always like to use the proverb “a stitch in time saves nine” — not because of the literal meaning of stitching something before it gets out of control, but more because of the universal message of foresight and vision needed in order to avoid mistakes. If we as a nation are serious about wanting to embed the culture of responsible democratic behavior as part of our national identity, then we have to build the sustainable infrastructure for it now — rather than be forced to do so some time in the future.
Our first step then is to commit to “institutionalizing” the MC electoral process. This commitment will not only restore credibility to the process and its systems, but it will also pave the way to a culture of good “public service” governance at the most basic level of local government. To do this we have to honor the prescheduled date of 2009 as the year for electing new members for the 2nd term of the MC. If we neglect this, we will be aborting our budding national effort at its most vulnerable stage.
