RIYADH, 24 January 2005 — The municipal areas of Dammam, Al-Ahsa and Qatif are to be divided into seven, six and five electoral districts respectively, according to an order issued by Prince Miteb, minister of rural and municipal affairs. Each such district will elect one member to the municipal council.
The Kingdom will hold its first-ever municipal elections in three stages, starting on Feb. 12.
Voter registration in Dammam and Al-Ahsa on Jan. 13. The local election supervisory commission said 62,570 people registered in Al-Ahsa. Initial figures indicate as many as 200,000 voters may have registered in the two areas. The registration was conducted at 72 centers.
Fahd Al-Jubair, chairman of the supervisory committee, said the second phase for candidate registration would begin on Feb. 3, to be followed by the third and last stage with voting taking place on March 3. Prince Miteb had earlier set up the committee to supervise the elections in the Eastern Province.
