“Elections are a national duty” was the slogan that many candidates in the recently concluded Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry board elections repeated in the media in an attempt to attract voters' support, but the truth is that most of them did not understand its true meaning. During the election campaign, many problems arose to the consternation of both candidates and voters and many newspapers highlighted these difficulties. Saudi Gazette spoke to a specialist in the election culture, and to some of the candidates in the JCCI election in order to shed light on what happened and how the same mistakes can be avoided the next time an election is held. “Facing problems in an election is normal. However, repeating the same mistakes in future elections is not. We noticed that most candidates still do not understand election strategy. They need more practice,” said Dr. Naelah Attar, an economic and management consultant, and the organizer of the first educational program to enhance the election culture. She said, “If we face the same problems in future elections, this could be a dangerous phenomenon and it should be averted.” Problems appeared because of misunderstandings about the real meaning of elections, she added. “An election is a national duty, as well as a right, and both the candidate and the voter should act for the benefit of the country, rather than for themselves,” she said. “Voters should understand that candidates do not have magic wands that will enable them to change everything suddenly. If voters realize this, then they will not have unrealistic expectations of candidates, and they will not ask for money or bribes,” she explained. Among problems that surfaced in the JCCI election was the fact that 12,000 people were not able to vote. “All of those who renewed their JCCI membership after January 2009 were not allowed to vote. This clearly had a negative effect on the election results,” Attar said. Male candidates also had greater opportunities to win because the majority of voters were men. “In this regard, separating females in campaign tents where only women were allowed to enter made it difficult for female candidates to gain the support of male voters. A way should be found to allow female candidates to explain their programs to male voters,” she added. Attar also criticized the procedures used to distribute each candidate's election platform. “The candidate should discuss his plans in front of the voters,” she said, adding that the JCCI should ask those who were candidates in previous years to post their achievements. “Some of the candidates participated in the election this year without elaborating on their achievements. Voters need to know what these candidates have accomplished,” she explained. According to Attar, in the next election it will be very important that these mistakes are not repeated. Bandar Rawwas, one of the young candidates in the JCCI election and a member of the JCCI Commercial Committee, criticized the procedures taken by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry saying that “Violations occurred mainly due to the failure of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry”. According to Rawwas, the same mistakes should not be repeated. “The officials should learn from their mistakes; it is not professional to repeat the same mistakes every year,” he said. “ Some candidates, who are very popular and wealthy, try to use illegal means to attract a large number of votes,” he said.
