JEDDAH, 29 November 2005 — Viewed as the most competitive Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) board elections in history, the two-day men’s balloting kicked off here yesterday marked by heavy polling. Results will be out today.

Hundreds of registered voters flocked to the JCCI headquarters at Al-Andalus Street to cast their votes. Leaflets were handed as soon as people got out of their cars. Colorful banners were placed on moving vehicles, tents were set up in front of the chamber and an army of salesmen was marketing their candidates. “Vote for No. X,” one of them shouted.

What makes these elections unique in comparison with past elections are two hot topics: Women running for office for the first time and the Kingdom’s accession to the WTO.

Experts foresee it as the biggest elections yet, with the highest number of voters casting their votes. “The largest number of voters in the past was during the 16th board elections,” said Dr. Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, chairman of the JCCI board of directors. “Around 20 percent of potential voters cast their votes back then.”

Al-Sulaiman said the current number is expected to be higher due to very strong competition between the candidates.

The two-day voting for women ended on Sunday but the turnout was very low compared to men’s participation yesterday.

He said he did not expect any woman candidate to easily win a seat due to the close competition. “Only if one of the five established groups of candidates sweeps all the seats, then it would be possible for women candidates who joined the group to secure seats on the board,” he said.

However, Al-Suliman said that although it was difficult for women to secure seats in this round of JCCI elections, women who are competing in the elections with men are not in any way inferior in administrative capabilities and business awareness than men.

Most of the voters who came to cast their votes had only a few candidates in mind but had little knowledge about all running candidates in the same category. When the JCCI chairman was asked about this, he told Arab News that only a few voters did their research.

He acknowledged that many voters came to the election with just one candidate in mind whereas they had to vote for 12 candidates. Some of them had little or no knowledge of other candidates. “Lack of awareness is an issue. Voters should strive that extra mile before casting their votes,” he said.

Al-Sulaiman also admitted that some of the candidates were running in the election only for the sake of prestige. “For those who are going in for prestige, they will find out after they join the chamber that things are not easy,” he added. “Some of the candidates are making tall promises to the voters but in the end it is the voters’ responsibility to know whom they should elect.”

The banners and leaflets that candidates distributed to the voters emphasized on promises that they would stand by small and medium businesses to tackle future challenges of competition.

Turning to challenges the JCCI faces after the accession to the WTO, Al-Sulaiman pointed out that there should not be any worry about the competition following the accession. He asserted that small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom were entirely secure from the hazards of globalization. “No dramatic changes are going to occur in the business arena. Competition will stay the same,” he said.