At a press conference in Jeddah, chairman of the National Lawyers Committee Majed Garub said the formation of the council came after many civil organizations had called for setting up a monitoring body for the elections.

He said members of two large civil organizations in the Kingdom — the National Society of Lawyers and Saudi Engineers Society — have been authorized to supervise the nationwide elections.

He said the council’s members in different provinces of the country would monitor the operation of the elections and present their reports to authorities concerned.

“They will make sure that free and fair elections are conducted in accordance with set principles and regulations and report any anomalies or violations,” Garub said.

He said the new National Monitoring Council would benefit from the experiences of organizations such as the National Society for Human Rights that monitored the previous elections held six years ago.

The council will have offices to coordinate with election committees in various parts of the country.

As many as 5,609 Saudis have registered their names to contest the municipal elections.