MAKKAH — The local committee for the third municipal council elections on Wednesday opened a total of 47 voting centers in Makkah, Jamoom, Madrakah and Asfan where final lists of voters were displayed for the would-be voters to make sure their names are included.
JEDDAH: Over 1.48 million men and women will vote in the Dec. 12 municipal council elections this year, according to the General Committee for the Municipal Council Elections.
Judai Al-Qahtani, head of the committee, said there would be over 1.35 million men and 130,637 women voters, according to a report in an online publication recently.
Al-Qahtani said there would be 548,945 new men and women voters, with men making up 418,380. There were 277,761 men and women found ineligible, which included 51,230 soldiers. Military personnel are not allowed to vote.
RIAYDH: Some 54 percent of candidates, out of 7,500 expected in the fray, have confirmed their intention to contest the upcoming municipal council elections in the Kingdom with submission of requests to license their polling campaigns.
RIYADH: A total of 1,039 women are standing as candidates in the upcoming municipal council elections.
They will compete in 212 or 75 percent of the 284 municipal councils, said Jadee Al-Qahtani, head of the Municipal Elections Execu
MADINAH: Thirty-one female candidates have withdrawn from the upcoming municipal council elections.
This is according to Jedaie’ Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the committee overseeing the polls, who said there would now be 1,071 women candidates contesting the elections on Dec. 12.
These withdrawals took place in governorates across the Kingdom and are not an indication that there is any less enthusiasm for the polls, he was quoted as saying by a local publication on Monday.
Khalaf Al-Harbe (Opinión)-.
We like to talk big in front of TV cameras on condition that what we say should never be translated on the real ground or put into practice. Let it forever remain only talk, no more.
For instance, we love to appear before the world that we believe in women’s rights and totally support them.
We want the world understand that we strongly believe in the big role Saudi women play in social development. This also has one simple condition: that this role should never happen.
RASHID HASSAN.-
JEDDAH — The local committee for the upcoming third municipal elections here has dropped out a total of 6,922 men and women voters for various errors or incomplete data.
The committee's spokesman, Saud Al-Tuwaim, said 21 new candidates were added to the list of the contenders.
He said the voters who were registered for the previous elections were 91,547 to which 26,248 new voters were added raising the total number of eligible voters in Jeddah and its suburbs to 117,795.
JEDDAH: Candidates contesting the municipal council elections later this year are banned from using the state logo and flag, mosques, public buildings and sports clubs in their campaigns.
The prohibitions include religious and tribal signs and symbols, names and photographs of public officials, and public and private television stations inside and outside the country, a local publication reported recently.
A total of 7,600 candidates are in fray for municipal council elections. Judeh Al-Qahtani, president of the executive committee of municipal elections, said 1,066 of them are women.
He said the scrutiny of the candidates’ papers would take some time. “The final list will be published in two months,” he said. Al-Qahtani said there had been no challenges, either for candidates or voters.
Candidates in municipal council elections are holding meetings in a number of commercial centers to attract votes and gain the confidence of people.
In these gatherings, they are talking about election culture, the importance of women’s participation and achievement of the “main goal.”
A total of 6,140 men and women candidates will contest the third municipal elections to be held on Dec. 12, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and published Wednesday by Makkah daily.
The report said the candidates consist of 5,275 men and 865 women who are participating for the first time as voters and candidates.
According to the report, Asir Province has 47 men but no women candidates. With 1,061 contenders, Riyadh region has the largest number of candidates consisting of 899 men and 162 women.
RIYADH: Over 1.7 million Saudis will participate in the country’s Dec. 12 elections, according to Abdul Lateef Al-Asheikh, municipal and rural affairs minister.
There were 791,411 voters in the first elections and 405,783 in the second one, Al-Asheikh was quoted as saying by a local publication on Wednesday. He thanked the leadership for organizing the elections and amending legislation that would ensure it takes place smoothly.
JEDDAH: The country’s newly elected municipal councils should have a say in selecting mayors and secretaries general of cities, participants at a Municipal Councils Forum suggested on Thursday.
They proposed that the councils should compile a list of nominees and send it to the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry for approval, a local publication reported.
Meanwhile, the participants suggested that the ministry work out a mechanism to monitor the performance of council members, to ensure they fulfill their mandate.
AL-NAIRIYA: Women in Al-Nairiya governorate have called on the government to only allow gender-based voting because they believe this would allow women to get places on the new municipal councils.
Nouf Al-Otaibi, a businesswoman in the area, said men can get more votes than women. She said men should vote for men and women for women.
Hind Al-Maliki said men have significant authority in the governorate that enables them to get more votes, which makes it unfair competition.
JEDDAH: In an attempt to win the race and get a municipal seat, a number of female candidates are approaching media marketing agencies or media directorates for the election campaign, with the value of some programs reaching SR250,000.
Local media monitored a number of files that have been prepared by such agencies with a comprehensive election program, with the service charges reaching between SR200,000 and SR250,000. The program defines the vision of the candidate and offers solutions to the goal defined by them.
JEDDAH — The registration of candidates for the third municipal council elections scheduled for Dec. 12 started all over the Kingdom on Sunday and will continue for 17 days.
The registration had started in Makkah and Madinah a week earlier. For the first time in Saudi history, women were allowed to participate in the elections as voters and candidates in a move described by observers as an advanced step aimed at empowering Saudi women and involving them in the process of decision making.
JEDDAH — Despite more than 1,200 polling centers across the Kingdom open and ready to register voters for municipal elections, registration turnout has been slow, with some centers vacant except for the presence of some government employees.
In Jeddah, lukewarm voter turnout prompted Mayor Hani Abu Ras, head of the local elections committee, to call for intensified awareness campaigns urging citizens to register.
JEDDAH: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has admitted that voter registration is still slow but clarified that this has nothing to do with the start of the new academic year.
Hamad Al-Omar, who heads the ministry’s media and public affairs department, was quoted as saying by a local publication on Monday that election stations open promptly at 4 p.m.
