THE OPPOSITION CRITICIZES PLAN FOR PARTIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Commentators who are close to the opposition have criticized the government's plan to hold partial municipal elections. They saw the plan as falling short of meeting the expectations of the public. They pointed out that the partial municipal election plan was a regression, as regions such as Hijaz have had full municipal elections as far back as one hundred years ago.

These commentators, inspired by the overseas’ Saudi opposition, maintain that the announcement is too small a step to take seriously. In their view, these partial elections of local municipal councils are meant to conceal runaway corruption and the wasting of public monies by the princes and their allies within the merchant class; they stress that equality before the law is absent and that the judiciary lacks independence; they further allege that women's rights are the subject of daily abuse; and, eminently, they note the absence of elections in the national political system- –a reference to the fact that the Consultative Council is an appointed entity and hardly a true elected parliament, and that the Governors of the Provinces are also appointed.