Clerics' Choices Clean Up in Saudi Election

Candidates backed by conservative religious scholars have almost swept the board in the final stage of Saudi Arabia's local elections amid complaints of unfair practice from defeated candidates.

In Jeddah - a relatively liberal city - candidates endorsed by the clergy won all seven seats. This was repeated in Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, while in the conservative city of Buraydah, five of the six winners had religious backing.

The kingdom's election law forbids parties or electoral pacts, but lists of clerically approved candidates were widely circulated on the internet and by anonymous mobile phone messages before the polls last Thursday.

"It was a well-orchestrated and planned campaign," said Ibrahim bin Hussein, a losing candidate in Mecca. "When you tell people this candidate is good and pious, it means you also tell them that his opponent is not. This highly matters in a religious society," he told Associated Press.

Nabil Qamlu, a lawyer who lost in Jeddah, quipped that he would have to grow a beard if he wanted to win next time.

Many losing candidates said they would complain to the election commission about religious interference, though the commission has previously rejected similar complaints.

The elections, in which only men were allowed to vote, were the most tangible result so far of the kingdom's programme for gradual reform, though supporters of reform have been disappointed by the low voter registration.

Some voters said they preferred religious candidates to rich businessmen and tribal leaders. Many said they were confused by the huge numbers of candidates and found it virtually impossible to discover what they all stood for: in Jeddah more than 500 were com peting for just seven seats. This, together with the ban on political parties, seems to have opened the door for the clergy to help voters decide.

The Jeddah-based daily Arab News attributed the religious candidates' success to efficient organisation but Abdel-Rahman al-Yamani, who topped the poll in city, said it was due more to their popularity. "We are religious people by nature and secular people are not accepted by the society," he said.

The elected members make up only 50% of local councils, with the remainder due to be appointed by the king shortly.