JEDDAH MUNICIPAL COUNCIL: NOT WELL-KNOWN AND OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000145

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN, DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KISL SA
SUBJECT: JEDDAH MUNICIPAL COUNCIL: NOT WELL-KNOWN AND OF
DEBATABLE IMPACT

REF: A. JEDDAH 278 B. JEDDAH 0093

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4(b) an
d (d).


1. (C) BEGIN SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Various meetings with
Jeddah Municipal Council members and prominent elite have
presented a bleak picture concerning Council effectiveness
and accomplishments. Over the past two years, the Council
has approved and managed Municipality projects while
introducing a few of their own (Reftel B); however, many
Jeddawis do not feel that the Council does enough to improve
city services while others are either unaware of the
Council's activities or do not know a Council exists. While
recently-elected Council President Dr. Tarek Fadaak
(Councilors elected him in December 2007) is considered a
"liberal" and has plans to raise the Council's profile,
Council members have mixed feelings regarding past successes
and the potential for realizing future endeavors.


2. (C) Some Jeddah Councilors believe that the Council is
still a "toothless organization" (Reftel A) while others
claim that it has facilitated greater openness between the
city government and residents. Additionally, other issues
appear to plague Council operations, including a quarrelsome
relationship between the Council and the Office of the
Municipality. Despite Council President Fadaak's renewed
enthusiasm and Jeddawis' increased willingness to criticize
openly city services, the Council may remain a symbol of
political stagnation until or unless the Ministry of
Municipal and Rural Affairs affords it a clear mandate and
the power to implement it. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF JEDDAH COUNCIL: VERY NEGATIVE


3. (C) In various conversations with Jeddah elite, most spoke
negatively of the Council while some where not aware that it
existed. One businessman who participated in the Saudi
Entrepreneur Roundtable with President Bush stated of the
Jeddah Municipal Council on January 15: "Where shall we place
the flower pot: here or there?" In other conversations with
local Jeddawis, such as female entrepreneur and long-time
Consulate General contact Alia Banaja, some were unaware that
a Municipal Council existed. (NOTE: Women were not able to
vote in the Municipal Council elections. END NOTE.)


4. (C) Jeddah residents bemoan frequently that the city
government needs to do more. Residents of the Gholail
district in Jeddah with a population of approximately 300,000
told reporters from English-language daily Saudi Gazette on
February 2 that the local government is not addressing basic
needs such as "sewage clearance" and "street maintenance."
Saudi Arabic-language daily Shams published an investigative
report in December 2007 on the accomplishments of elected
municipal leaders in Jeddah after two years in office.
Residents reported not having seen any positive change in the
services provided.

COUNCILORS' OPINION ON THEIR EFFECTIVENESS: PESSIMISTIC TO
GUARDEDLY OPTIMISTIC


5. (C) In meetings with several Jeddah Municipal Councilors,
most told Pol Chief they agreed with the often-mentioned
claim in Saudi English-language dailies that Councilors are
not effective because they do not have a clear mandate and
their roles are only supervisory. (NOTE: Jeddah Municipal
Council resolutions are non-binding and are not made public.
END NOTE.) Other members, such as Council President Fadaak
and Councilor Bassam Jamel Akhdar, identified additional
problems such as not having sufficient time to address
constituent concerns. Fadaak told Pol Chief that Councilors
should work full-time, "just like Majlis Ashoura members."
Finally, many acknowledged to Pol Chief that they are trying
to make the best of a difficult situation.


6. (C) In contrast, appointed Jeddah Municipal Councilor
Muhammad Abu Dawood argued that the Council's existence alone
was significant. He also stated that some of the appointed
Jeddah Municipal Council members were more optimistic now
that the Council has a "liberal" President. (NOTE: In a 6-8
vote divided mainly between appointed members and elected
members, Tarek Fadaak (appointed) won the Council Presidency
over current Vice President Hasan Zahrani (elected) in late
December 2007. The Council comprises 7 Saudi
government-appointed members - many considered liberal - and
7 elected members - all religious authority-supported
Islamists and considered conservative. END NOTE.)


7. (C) Additionally, Council Vice President Hasan Zahrani
believes that the Jeddah Municipal Council has encouraged

Jeddawis to step forward and to complain formally as well as
openly about the state of city services. Some evidence
exists that the Council has responded to such complaints: it
canceled a few Municipality projects in part because Jeddah
residents started filing complaints, according to a November
2007 article in the Arabic-language daily Asharq AlAwsat.
Council President Fadaak is trying to capitalize on this
momentum by encouraging Jeddah residents to bring to the
Council their concerns, both through the Council's "Friends
of Jeddah" program (Reftel B) as well as through less formal
means, such as personal calls from and to residents.

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL-MUNICIPALITY OFFICE RELATIONS: AMBIGUOUS
AND CONTENTIOUS


8. (C) An issue that confuses the Jeddawis that are aware of
the Council's existence is the difference between the
Municipal Council and the Office of the Municipality. When
Pol Chief asked President Fadaak and Vice President Zahrani
to explain the difference, they looked at each other, paused
and stated: "That was a good question," adding with some
hesitation: "The Council oversees the Municipality's
projects." Former Municipal Council President Rabah
Al-Daheri did not clarify any further when stating that the
main tasks of the Council were "reporting and monitoring" and
setting "a clear agenda for tackling...problems."


9. (C) Jeddah Municipality officials have a starkly different
opinion. Municipality official Samy Nawar, Head of the
Departments for Historic Preservation, and Tourism and
Culture, informed Pol Chief on January 28 that he did not
know "What the heck the Municipal Council does." He said
that for years the Municipality has taken care of city
services and could continue to do so without the Council. He
then relayed an ongoing argument between the Municipality
Office and the Council regarding the use of "Bait Al Balad"
(an old historical building that currently houses city
government offices): the Municipality wants it to be a museum
while the Council prefers it remain an office building.
While he admitted that he considered the 2005 Council
elections a "big deal," he then qualified his remark,
stating: "Perhaps it is better that they are all appointed
and corrupt, rather than elected and falsely claiming
legitimacy."
GFOELLER