RIYADH, 23 February 2004 — Elections to the Saudi Journalists Association’s first board of directors have been postponed for the second time in two months, Arab News learned yesterday.
The elections were supposed to take place in Riyadh this coming Thursday. According to a statement from the organizing committee, elections have now been rescheduled for April 5.
The organizing committee held a meeting at the headquarters of Al-Jazirah newspaper to discuss the voting process and the authenticity of membership applications submitted.
Turki Al-Sudairy, chairman of the board and editor in chief of Al-Riyadh newspaper, told Arab News among the reasons for the postponement was that voting via the Internet, fax, or phone for those unable to come to the association to cast their votes was illegal. He said voting by those methods went against the association’s bylaws.
Another reason for postponement was that several hundred people who submitted their forms were only part-time journalists but claimed to be full-time. “Many of the people who submitted their forms seeking membership in the association have nothing to do with journalism or journalists working full-time in newspapers enduring all sorts of hardships,” he said.
Al-Sudairy said some 770 people who applied for membership were ineligible, although they worked in newspapers.
Al-Sudairy is asking other editors in chief to look into the applications submitted from their papers to help the committee do its job.
The organizing committee has set up a special committee to look at applications, design a voting form, publish a final electoral roll and supervise the voting.
Journalists who have not registered and would like to join will have until March 15 to apply.
