JEDDAH: Several unsuccessful contestants in the recent Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) election have started challenging the fairness of polling procedures, claiming dishonest practices such as rigging and buying votes were rampant.
The 12 new members of the board of directors in the JCCI were announced early Wednesday morning after five days of voting. Candidates are given a week to challenge the results. Complaints started to surface on the second day of the election, allocated for men, when 10 candidates submitted a complaint to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and election authorities. They said the conduct of the election was flawed with forgeries and other violations. They demanded the election results be scrapped and another ballot take place, according to Nasir Al-Farhan, a signatory to the petition.
“The practice of buying votes in violation of chamber election rules was detected in the case of more than one candidate and it even led to fistfights between the sons of some candidates,” Al-Farhan told Arab News.
Another candidate who also complained about dishonest practices at the elections said he would complain to the Court of Grievances if the Ministry of Commerce and Industry fails to take action.
“My friends and relatives, numbering about 80, cast their votes on the first day of the election. I am sure that more than 600 other people voted in my favor over the five-day election. But when the final results came I was shocked because figures showed I got only 60 votes,” he said.
A winning candidate said despite his success in the election he was shocked when he saw that he only received just over 300 votes. He said he was sure more than 1,000 people had voted for him.
Some analysts believe that if the minister decides to take action he has three options.
The first option is to scrap the election results, while the second one is to cancel the memberships of those who are later proven to have breached election regulations or bar them from public activities. The third option is to extend the term of the present board of directors as was done in the past for the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry following similar complaints until a new election is called.
