This month’s elections in Iraq and for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority may be claiming all the world’s headlines, but another potentially far-reaching ballot is also underway, albeit to far less acclaim: the registration process for the municipal elections in Saudi Arabia in mid-February. As the heartland of some of the strongest Islamist forces anywhere, this Saudi effort – if successful and a harbinger of other needed changes – may have an even more profound impact than the elections in Iraq and Palestine.
这个月全世界各大媒体头条大概都被伊拉克选举和巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席的选举所占据，不过同时还有另外一场投票也在进行之中。虽然它远没有前两场那么瞩目，但可能影响深远。那就是今年二月中旬在沙特阿拉伯进行的市政选举登记。作为某些伊斯兰最强势力的心脏地区，一旦沙特的这一举措得以成功并引发其他相应变革的话，其产生的影响要比伊拉克和巴勒斯坦的选举更为深远。