[lil'babykitten]

From here

The government decided to "widen the participation of citizens in running local affairs through elections", the state news agency SPA reported.

Half the members of future councils will be elected under the reform.

The kingdom has never had any elections at any level since its creation under the Saud dynasty in 1932.

The council elections are to be held within a year, SPA added.

The announcement comes as Saudi Arabia opens its first ever conference on human rights on Monday, in the capital, Riyadh.

Academics and human rights activists from around the world are attending the two-day event.

The BBC's Middle East analyst, Roger Hardy, reports from Riyadh that the conference, entitled "Human rights in peace and war", is being prominently reported in the country.

Among the issues on the agenda will be the rights of women and children.

Sounds good. Hopefully it will amount to something too.

Discuss!

[thunderous_funker]

The Soviet Union had elections too.

[lil'babykitten]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
The Soviet Union had elections too.

Well when you put it that way.......

I'm weary too. Jordan has elections but is hardly a democracy.

[eklipse]

Anyone ever think King Fahd of Saudi Arabia looks a lot like Tintin's Emir Ben Kalish Ezab of Khemed?

[thunderous_funker]

I think this is designed, not as a reform, but as a simple matter of creating official outlets for public rage. In a society with no freedom of press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, elections, opposition parties, etc there is no outlet for the impotent rage of the exploited masses.

By setting up local councils who are accountable, Saudis will be able to play local politics, vent their spleens at local officials, feel like they have a voice in something and (hopefully) forget that they still live under a brutal, ruthless and utterly corrupt monarchy.

That is the intent, as I see it. It will be interesting if it vents steam or actually superheats it.

[macvillage.net]

It's actually good for the War On Terror.

This forces Saudi's to do the following:

1. Hold some involvement in politics, making them more concerned about surrounding situations, rather than say "it's out of my hands".

2. Give an outlet to all groups, rather than force them to resort to violence to get attention.



This is actually a very good thing for the true War on Terror.

[moki]

Originally posted by lil'babykitten:
From here



Sounds good. Hopefully it will amount to something too.

Discuss!

Sounds interesting -- are women going to be allowed to vote, or are the men the ones who are voting on the women's rights? heh

[Uday's Carcass]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
the exploited masses.

hahahah. The Saudi 'masses' are far from exploited. Education is free (including higher ed), they receive cushy jobs (the oil labour is done mostly by imported foreigners) and the state provides for the health care of its citizens.

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
This is actually a very good thing for the true War on Terror.

Unless the motley rabble and their meaningless local councils actually start demanding real reforms.

[Uday's Carcass]

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
This is actually a very good thing for the true War on Terror.

hardly. A Saudi democracy would become nothing more than a rich pre-US afghanistan. Full of hate-mongers, anti-US, anti-West, antisemite, and militant Jihad elements, these losers would come to power and quickly alter the strategic landscape in the Middle East. A Saudi democracy, given their current society, would be bad for the war on terror.

[macvillage.net]

Originally posted by Uday's Carcass:
hardly. A Saudi democracy would become nothing more than a rich pre-US afghanistan. Full of hate-mongers, anti-US, anti-West, antisemite, and militant Jihad elements, these losers would come to power and quickly alter the strategic landscape in the Middle East. A Saudi democracy, given their current society, would be bad for the war on terror.

You forget they are much more practical.

Saudi Arabia is more aware of the current situation in the middle east than any other government in the region.

They know how far they can push it. They are well aware they are on that limit already.

They don't need this to cross that line. If they intended to do so, they would have done so long ago.

[lil'babykitten]

Originally posted by moki:
Sounds interesting -- are women going to be allowed to vote, or are the men the ones who are voting on the women's rights? heh

Among the issues on the agenda will be the rights of women

At least it made the damn agenda!

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
The Soviet Union had elections too.

Hey, don't forget the Iraqi elections. Didn't Saddam just get 99% of the popular vote last year? Made all the papers.

We toppled a very popular leader.

[Uday's Carcass]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
Hey, don't forget the Iraqi elections. Didn't Saddam just get 99% of the popular vote last year? Made all the papers.

We toppled a very popular leader.

bwahahah! There's this old Soviet joke I picked up in a NY Times article recently.

Andropov, at that time the leader of the Soviet Union, is walking down the street one day. He sees a Soviet citizen carrying a watermelon, and Andropov approaches and says, 'Give me that melon.'
The citizen asks, 'Which one?'
Andropov replys, 'How can I pick when you only have one?'
The citizen answers, 'The same way I picked you.'

hahahahah. The Lesser Satan could come up with some decent jokes at times. The communist pigs.

[moki]

Originally posted by lil'babykitten:
At least it made the damn agenda!

Yeah, ok, but that's pretty comical that women can't vote on women's rights. Ah well, maybe in another 50 years women will be able to vote, drive cars, and go out in public without a male from her family accompanying her.