The mayor has claimed he only wanted to give other citizens a chance to speak, which is why he rebuked Sultan Al-Shihri, Al-Madinah daily reported Wednesday.

He said during a visit to Al-Majardah, he was welcomed by a number of citizens, including Al-Shihri, who presented a number of demands, including the asphalting of a road in the town’s Al-Faisaliyah district.

He said he asked citizens to enter the municipality chairman’s office and to choose a spokesman to present their demands.

"The citizens chose Sheikh Shakir bin Abdullah Al-Shihri who was allowed enough time to present their demands. The head of the municipality explained to them the road would be asphalted after the extension of water network,” he said.

He added that Sultan Al-Shihri then stood up and repeated the same demands.

“I asked him sternly to give room to the others, especially the elderly, so that I could hear them before I left. This was the truth behind the incident, which was exaggerated by the media," he said.

The video clip showed Al-Shihri telling the mayor that citizens demanded a piece of land to construct a health center. He also complained about the level of cleanliness and the weak lighting of streets.

The mayor interrupted him to say: "You are repeating what others have already said. You have not said anything new. Leave us now because we have a lot of work to do."