He also pledged to curb the abuse of government resources in support of pro-government candidates.

The parliamentary elections of November 2007 strengthened the position of tribal leaders and other pro-government candidates.

Riots broke out after it was announced that pro-government candidates had won a sweeping victory.

The first of these contradictions is that, in a supposedly anti-Government era, the pro-Government candidate won.

In order to ensure the victory of pro-government candidates, ballot boxes were tampered with by police.

Islamist and pro-government candidates fared well in the parliamentary elections of July 2003.

The result was expected to be a predictable win for pro-government candidates and tribesmen with strong ties to the monarchy.

It also claimed that voting for pro-government candidates would lead to voters effectively excommunicating themselves from the Islamic faith.

A total of 183 candidates contested the election, which saw pro-government candidates remain the largest bloc in Parliament.

Despite expectations that pro-government candidates would win, the result was a victory for the opposition, which won 45 of the 80 elected seats.