RIYADH, Apr 8(Arab News): Saudi men who wish to vote in the Sept. 22 municipal council elections can register between April 22 and May 19, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has announced. The elections are for half of the Kingdom's municipal council members.
According to Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmash, chairman of the General Elections Committee, the number of municipal council members in the current term is 1,632 in 258 councils Kingdom-wide, compared with 1,212 members in 179 councils in the previous term.
"This is simply because the number of the voting centers were increased to 855 all over the Kingdom from 631," he pointed out.
Tariq Al-Qasabi, deputy chairman of the Riyadh Municipal Council, said he expected more candidates than before. “Last term there were between 50 and 70 candidate, but this term the number is expected to increase from Riyadh area."
Candidates will be able to register for their campaigns between May 28 and June 2. The elections for these two-year terms were earlier postponed. The last election took place in 2005.
Talking to Arab News, many people who were involved in the elections said the mistakes of the past elections emanated primarily from the fact that voters formed their opinions about candidates by hearsay without reviewing the platforms of the candidates.
In Jeddah, Mayor Hani bin Muhammad Abu Ras recently opened the first workshop on municipal elections, which was attended by heads of election centers and chairmen of local municipalities.
He said many similar workshops would be held to discuss all issues pertaining to the elections, including the registration of voters and the formation of election committees.
The mayor expected more voters to cast their votes this time. There will be 66 voting centers covering all parts of Jeddah. There were 47 voting centers in the 2005 elections.
Al-Dahmash said the elections will be conducted on the basis of "one man one vote" and added that voters would not be allowed to cast their votes outside their designated polling center.
"This procedure is aimed at connecting voters to their candidates," he explained.
Al-Dahmash said the municipal elections would enable Saudi men to participate in the process of decision-making through their selection of qualified candidates with sufficient experience in local affairs and municipal services.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has completed all arrangements for the elections, including the preparations of voting centers, printing of awareness brochures, finalizing voting schedules and completing all procedural and organizational matters.
In Makkah, the local Elections Committee was established under Mayor Osama bin Fadl Al-Bar, who said the committee held a series of meetings recently to establish the voting centers and other matters concerning the elections. In Tabuk, the Elections Committee was formed under Mayor Muhammad Abdul Hadi Al-Omari, who said the elections would be conducted in 25 voting centers. In the Eastern Province, Dhaif Allah bin Aiesh Al-Otaibi was appointed chairman of that province's local elections committee. The Eastern Province has 98 voting centers.