JEDDAH, 5 August 2004 — Saudi Arabia’s first-ever municipal elections will be conducted in three phases from November after Ramadan holidays, the official Saudi Press Agency reported last night. The SPA said the decision to defer the elections by two months was taken in consultation with a United Nations expert group which visited the Kingdom recently.
The expert group reviewed election preparations including its executive bylaw, registration of candidates, voter restrictions, election panels, technical aspects, time schedule and supervision. “The UN group met with members of election supervising committees, working groups and foreign experts,” the agency said.
“The UN team proposed that the elections start from the Riyadh region in November after Ramadan holidays, instead of September and October as previously planned,” the agency said. The date was changed as it coincided with the fasting month of Ramadan.
As per the present plan, public awareness campaigns on the elections will be carried out in September and October.
The elections to pick half the members of 178 municipal councils in the Kingdom’s 13 regions will be held in three phases.
Elections in the Riyadh region will be conducted in the first phase. The second phase, to be conducted before the Haj season, will cover the Eastern Province as well as the Asir, Baha, Jizan and Najran regions. The third phase of elections in the regions of Makkah, Madinah, Qasim, Al-Jouf, the Northern Border Region, Tabuk and Hail will be held after the Haj season.
“The UN team agreed with mayors of Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah to conduct elections in the regions of the third phase after the Haj season as the agencies there would be busy with Haj activities,” the agency said.
Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Miteb has approved the elections’ executive bylaw which will be announced shortly, it added.
