This was announced by Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmish, general supervisor at the Office of the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and chairman of the General Committee for the Municipal Elections.

“There was 800,000 registered voters for the first municipal elections held six years ago,” he said while expressing hope that the number of voters registering for the second municipal elections would exceed this figure.

Al-Dahmish also hinted at giving more powers to municipal councils. “This will be done in a phased manner in the future,”  he added.

Al-Dahmish was speaking to reporters after paying a visit to the headquarters of the Eastern Province municipality on Wednesday. During the visit, he held talks with senior officials of the municipality, including Daifullah Al-Otaibi, mayor of the Eastern Province, Muhammad Al-Sofyan, director of public relations and media at the municipality, as well as the chairman and members of the local committee for municipal elections.    

Al-Dahmish expected that there would be a huge turnout for voter registration in the last phase of the ongoing registration process. The 27-day voter registration has been progressing well at some 300 centers all over the Kingdom. 

“During the first municipal elections there was tremendous response for voter registration in the last phase. No doubt, the number of voters will be larger this time compared to the first elections,” he said.

The General Committee for Municipal Elections and local committees have been exerting all efforts to make the election process a great success, he said.

“The first municipal councils have offered commendable services, taking into account the powers and facilities made available to them,” he added. “However, many citizens have had reservations about their performance. This is because of the lack of proper awareness among them about the role and functions undertaken by the municipal councils. The citizens may not see directly the results of their performance, but nobody can deny the role played by the members of the councils behind taking several decisions and implementing major projects in a way serving the interests of the people, improving the standards of public utility services and realizing the welfare of the public in all walks of life,” he said.

Al-Dahmish also visited the information center at the municipality and was briefed on the preparations being made for voter registration and the election process. He also visited Prince Saud bin Jalawi Balloting Center in Al-Mazruiya district of Dammam where he inspected the voter registration facilities.