Apathy keeps registrations low for first Saudi Arabia elections

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — During 30 minutes at a Riyadh voter registration center, only two people — an old man and a prince — walked in to sign up for the kingdom's first nationwide elections. At another center, a mere eight people registered in 45 minutes.

Despite a campaign urging residents to register before Thursday's deadline, Saudi men — women are barred from voting — have shown little enthusiasm for elections in a kingdom long regarded as autocratic, secretive and resistant to reform.

By Sunday, only about 100,000 of 600,000 eligible voters in the Riyadh area had registered since the centers opened Nov. 23. The three-stage municipal council elections begin in the capital Feb. 10.

Saudis have not been swayed by pictures of senior princes and football stars signing up to vote. Nor have they been driven to emulate Iraqis and Palestinians who are due to cast ballots next month.

"It didn't occur to me" to register, said Mohammed al-Subai, 29, who works in public relations.

"How would it change my life?" asked Faisal al-Amer, a 28-year-old electric company supervisor. "I want democracy, but making all that effort for municipal elections is not worth it."

The elections for half the 178 council members — the rest will be appointed by the government — are part of the kingdom's measured response to calls for reforms long sought by liberals.

Voting will give Saudis the chance to participate in decision-making for the first time since the kingdom was established in the 1930s. Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, has an unelected Consultative Council that acts like a parliament. Political parties are banned and press freedoms are limited.

"Some believe the elections are just a public relations maneuver to improve the kingdom's image, that they're not a serious effort for change," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi journalist who has a political talk show in Dubai.

"Real elections have an end result — decision-making gets into the people's hands — and that's something the political regime is not ready for," he added.

Others say a low turnout is expected. They say it takes time for people to appreciate how elections can change lives.

Fahd al-Mubarak, a Consultative Council member, said that once candidates begin campaigning next month, those who did not register "will feel very sorry they have forfeited this right."

Khaled al-Dakheel, a political sociology professor at Riyadh's King Saud University, said the government should have started with elections for a body with more power than municipal councils.