Cleric-Backed Candidates Win in Riyadh

[Rose Siding]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Candidates backed by Islamic clerics won races in the Saudi Arabian capital in the kingdom's first regular balloting, an election observer said Friday.


Suleiman al-Oqaili told a press conference at which the preliminary results were announced that he saw the seven Riyadh winners' names on a list circulated via cell phones and the Internet.


"It was promoted as a list that had a religious blessing," al-Oqaili said.


A losing candidate objected to the results, claiming that the circulated list violated electoral law by claiming religious backing.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=6&u=/ap/20050211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_elections

[Igel]

1. Headline: Sun set to rise in morning.

It may have violated the electoral law, but that was written by infidels and ...

[NNN0LHI]

2. Islamists win landmark Saudi elections

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5533552

RIYADH (Reuters) - Islamist-backed candidates have triumphed over tribal opponents and
businessmen in Saudi Arabia's landmark men-only elections in the capital Riyadh, according to
preliminary results.

Losing candidates on Friday cried foul, saying six of the seven victors had violated a ban on
election alliances when their names were circulated via mobile phones and the Internet to voters
in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom with messages suggesting they had Islamist backing.

"There were regulations which forbade any coalitions. Those regulations were violated,"
defeated candidate Zafer al-Yami told Reuters. "They won through this violation."

"I don't know them personally ... But they had a religious character to them," he said of the
winners, adding that he planned to appeal the result.

more

[Kagemusha]

3. I do believe that election alliances = parties

And that Saudi Arabia doesn't allow them.

This is FYI because I had to think twice while reading this to realize what was being talked about.

[slackmaster]

4. I wonder how it would have turned out if they had let women vote

:shrug:

[NNN0LHI]

6. Depends on who counted their votes

:think:

[Stop_the_War]

5. Notice that Bush allies himself with a regime

that is known for its cruel violations of human rights and that does not allow women any rights.

[oasis]

16. Rules change validated by red state approval. It's elementary Watson.

Get used to it.

[NYC]

7. "They won through this violation."

Sound familiar? We tend to use the word "fraud" in place of "violation".

[sonicx]

8. Funny how the great "liberators" are silent on Male-only voting...

[hector459]

9. Nothing to get excited about. It's only municiple elections anyway. Iran

has the same thing. However, we all know that if you don't have "elections" like we tell you to have them and if you don't support our system of capitalism you are bhad, bhad, bhad people and need to be "liberated."

[VegasWolf]

10. "Promoted as the party blessed by God!" Now, where have I heard

that before? Scratching head.

[LinuxInsurgent]

11. hehe...

More fundamentalism...did we actually expect secularists to win...after we fanned the flames of fundamentalism...

Human fact...people in fear are pushed into the clutches of "all-explaining" fundamentalist faith as an emotional stabilizing force...after 9/11, our fundamentalists took the opportunity to American Taliban our society...after Iraq and Afghanistan, THEIR fundamentalists took the opportunity to cement their hold on power through anti-Americanism.

Get it?

[PA Democrat]

12. "It was promoted as a list that had a religious blessing," al-Oqaili said.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must return home and beat my wives."

[Mark E. Smith]

13. Cleric-Backed Candidates Win Saudi Election

AP 2/11/05

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Candidates backed by Islamic clerics won races in the Saudi Arabian capital in the kingdom's first regular balloting, an election observer said Friday.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kind of an irony here. Shrub has put an incredible amount of stock in the democratizing effect elections will have in Muslim countries, and has been pushing for them wherever he can get a listen. Yet in the 2 that have occurred so far, Iraq and now Saudi Arabia, the end result has been to empower decidedly undemocratic fundamentalist theocrats.

Nobody ever did say President F*ck Up was a genius...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6942304/

[catzies]

14. Yeah, but remember Bush really wants theocracy at home too

Ashcroft didn't think he was going to retire; he thought he was going to get raptured out out of office!

[Mojambo]

15. Well, big surprise there huh?