JEDDAH, 14 October 2003 — Saudi Arabia has announced that it will for the first time hold elections to the country’s 14 municipal councils within a year to widen public participation in local affairs.
The decision was taken by the weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, on the recommendation of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
“The Council of Ministers decided to expand the participation of citizens in the administration of local affairs through elections of half of the members of municipal councils,” said a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
“The concerned authorities have been told to complete the (election) procedures within a period not exceeding a year,” the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the Cabinet statement.
It said the Cabinet took the decision in light of a directive from the king in his address to the annual meeting of the Shoura Council earlier this year to broaden public participation in governance.
This is the first time Saudi Arabia has announced plans to hold elections to a government body. The 120 members of the consultative Shoura Council are appointed by the king.
In his address to the Shoura, King Fahd had also reiterated the government’s determination to go ahead with its political and administrative reforms, revise administrative regulations and introduce systems to monitor the performance of government departments. He had also pledged to open up opportunities for employment of women.
The new election plan follows proposals by the Ministerial Committee for Administrative Organization, chaired by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
The committee had conducted studies on how to invigorate the Kingdom’s municipalities and presented its recommendations to Prince Abdullah, who passed the matter to the Cabinet for a final decision, the statement said.
The 14 municipalities where council elections will be held are: Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Jeddah, the Eastern Province, Asir, Qasim, Jizan, Al-Jouf, Tabuk, Hail, the Northern Border Province, Baha and Najran.
The municipalities of Taif, Jamoum, Raniya, Turba and Al-Kharma will come under the Makkah Municipality while the municipalities of Rabigh, Qunfuda, Allaith, Khalees and Alqouz will be under Jeddah. The municipalities of each region will report directly to the mayor and the rural centers to the municipalities.
The Cabinet decided to abolish the directorates of municipal and rural affairs in Makkah, Riyadh, Asir and Qasim regions and the Eastern Province.
Separate allocations for every municipality and rural center will be made in the national budget.
Land will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. The municipalities of Jubail and Yanbu will remain under the Royal Commission.
A committee with representatives from the ministries of municipality and rural affairs, civil service, and finance will be formed to assess the properties of the abolished directorates of municipal and rural affairs and to decide what will happen to their employees. It will submit its proposals to the ministerial committee.
