JEDDAH, 16 October 2005 — The final list of candidates in the November elections for board members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) is to be released this week, officials said.
There has been a slight delay but next week the final list of candidates will be announced, said a source in the supervising committee. Because of the “fear of candidates’ last minute withdrawal” the committee is not rushing to announce the names, the source added.
Officials said that no complaints have been submitted to the committee by any of the candidates. Two candidates — one male and one female — have officially withdrawn from the contest, bringing the number of candidates to 75.
The committee will announce the final list of candidates after scrutinizing all applications. The JCCI has approximately 40,000 members of whom some 3,000 are women.
November’s JCCI board election is historic as this is the first time women have been allowed to stand for any office in the Kingdom. They were not allowed to be candidates or voters in the country’s first municipal elections held earlier this year.
