DAMMAM, 11 March — The campaign for the elections to the board of directors of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry is hotting up. The elections, which are held every four years, are scheduled for March 17.
According to the officials at the chamber of commerce, a total of 10,900 businessmen are eligible to vote to elect 12 members to the board. Another six members will be nominated by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry.
The most interesting aspect of this election, the 14th in the chamber’s history, is that for the first time in the recent past only one group has fielded candidates for the 12 positions in the board — six each for the industrial and trade segments.
In previous elections, generally two groups — Taawun and Injaz — were in the fray. This year only Taawun has fielded its candidates. Apart from Taawun, rest of the candidates are independent (Mustaqloon).
Eight businessmen are contesting the elections as independents. There is not a single candidate in the Taawun list or among the independents who is representing small business, whereas nearly 70 percent of the 10,900 registered businesses in the Eastern Province are of low investment and meager turnover.
Many small businessmen question the representative character of such panels on the plea that the elected members are not aware of their problems nor do they do anything to promote their interests.
“To us the chamber is only a body which gives us commercial registration and attests our documents,” said an Alkhobar businessman who owns three barber shops.
“I have a vegetable shop in the Dammam area and have never heard anything from the chamber which could promote our interests. They talk about big business and big people,” said the owner of Arafat Vegetable shop in Alkhobar.
However, small businessmen agree that the election is a boon for them because they get all the attention of the big businessmen who are standing as candidates. “Many candidates even offer to deposit our annual chamber fee,” said the owner of a garments shop in Dammam Ladies’ market.
The chamber’s annual fee ranges from SR400 to SR10,000, depending on the business volume.
Lobbying has already started and candidates are making every effort to attract voters. Recently, one group hosted a dinner for nearly 400 journalists. And there was another dinner to which nearly 4,000 prospective candidates were invited.
The Taawun list shows that it is attempting to pass on the leadership of the business community to younger blood.
Among the old members there is only Ibrahim Al-Jomaih, who has been a member of the board for several years. The rest are either new candidates, like Zamil Al-Zamil, or those who have been members for one or two terms.
Taawun candidates include Maan Al-Sanea, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, Khalid Abdul Karim Al-Qahtani, Saud Algosaibi, Zamil Al-Zamil, Muhammad Al-Moajil (all industrial segment); Ibrahim Al-Jomaih, Khalid Bawardi, Rashid Al-Suwaiket, Muhammad Al-Hazza, Abdullah Al-Ammar and Eisa Al-Dosary (all trade segment).
The independents include Ali Al-Yami, Haadi Al-Hajri, Sulaiman Abakhail, Ali Al-Suroor, Abdul Ali Al-Mahroos, Shaker Al-Motawa, Muhammad Bukhamseen, Abdul Rauf Al-Matrood, Abdul Jabbar Bu Mara and Ghassan Al-Nimr.
The business community feels that in the absence of another organized group, the turnout will be very low. In the last elections, the turnout was only 30 percent.
