JEDDAH, 20 December 2004 — An appeals and complaints committee has been set up by Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Miteb to receive and process complaints filed by candidates running in the forthcoming municipal elections. Saudi Arabia will organize municipal elections in February with voters required to elect half the members of 178 municipal councils in a process that will be held in three phases.
The appeals committee, made up of a chairman and three members, will operate under the municipality and rural areas law. It will be assisted by an administrative body and may appoint representatives attached to the polling centers to address any appeals and complaints.
The committee will be required to submit detailed reports to the minister on each of the stages of its work, outlining the nature of the complaints and steps followed in addressing these. Riyadh was the first region to start the registration of voters. The process began last month and will last for 30 days.
Meanwhile, an as many as half as million voters in the city of Jeddah are expected to take part in the municipal election as announced by a local supervisory committee.
Abdullah Al-Muallami, Jeddah mayor and chairman of the election supervisory committee, said the role of the committee is to ensure that arrangements and preparations leading to the election are in order and that the polling process takes place in an orderly manner.
