This was the slogan of the candidates running for the Jeddah municipal council six years ago. The ones who voted for them, however, did not find anything to be happy about.

A local newspaper recently reported that the Court of Grievances had received complaints from a number of citizens wishing to file lawsuits against the members of the municipal council in Jeddah who did not fulfill the promises they made during their election campaigns.

It is the first time that citizens take council members to justice. It is the duty of the council members to represent the citizens, and their word should be accepted by the authorities. Why did these citizens turn their backs on them and decide to sue the council’s members? The answer is simple. The citizens are sick of the false promises made by them. They lost their voices by asking the members to take care of their needs and look after their interests. Nothing of this happened, so the citizens decided to go to court.

The promises made during the election campaigns were numerous, ranging from building cinema houses and ending the problem of unemployment to building houses for low-income citizens. We have not seen a cinema house or a single apartment built for a low-income citizen. The rate of unemployment remained as high as it was before the municipal elections. It is obvious that we misunderstood the question of cinemas. We finally realize that the council's members are the actors and the voters are the spectators who paid the price of the tickets and waited for six years to see the show.

The administrative court considers complaints of citizens before it officially accepts them for litigation. I support these citizens and pray that the court accepts their complaints. The law must be applied on members who failed to keep their promises, so that new members will think twice before making promises they cannot fulfill.

New municipal elections are approaching. I hope the next elected members will be able to fulfill the promises made by their predecessors before the city sinks again in rain and flood waters. I hope they will be able to construct the tunnels and bridges promised to us, to serve the citizens and to provide housing units for low-income citizens.

One last piece of advice: If any of the former members decide to run for the elections again, do not give them your vote.