Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmash said voting would start at all polling stations at 8 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. “Only those people whose names are recorded in the voter’s list will be allowed to vote,” he said.

But a report published by Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily indicated that municipal elections could be delayed further in order to allow women’s participation.

The consultative Shoura Council has already presented its recommendation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah allowing women to participate in the election as voters and not as candidates.

“In its proposal the Shoura did not specify the round of election (whether women should be allowed to vote in this election or the coming one), keeping the option open for higher authorities to decide,” the paper said, quoting Abdul Rahman Al-Anad, a member of the Shoura Council and the National Society for Human Rights.

The Shoura proposal had advised the government to take necessary measures for women’s participation in the municipal elections, following Shariah regulations. He said the Shoura decision was passed about three weeks ago. “Any Shoura decision could be opposed … before presenting it to the king for his final endorsement,” he said.

Al-Anad said 18 Shoura members had called for a discussion of the issue of women’s participation in the election again. However, they had not demanded nullification of the Shoura decision.

In Friday’s statement, commissioner Al-Dahmash did not give any indication of election postponement or women’s participation. But the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said the elections would be held on schedule without further delay.

The ministry said it was standing by its previous decision of not allowing women to vote in this election. “We have already announced the whole election program and we would not divert from the plan,” it said.

Shoura member Al-Anad pressed for women’s vote in this election. “If there is strong will, I don’t see any difficulty in allowing women to vote this time. At the most we may postpone the election for two or three months for the purpose. We have already postponed it for two years,” he explained.

He said the Shoura was successful in relaying the pulse of the street on women’s vote to higher authorities. Many women had protested the ministry’s decision banning them from voting in this election.