JEDDAH, 17 August 2004 — UN experts will monitor registration of voters and candidates for the Kingdom’s first-ever municipal council elections to be held in three phases from November to early 2005, press reports said.
Muhammad Al-Naqadi, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs for planning, said the UN team, which arrived at the Kingdom’s invitation, has already started its work.
“All related agencies are holding intense parleys to ensure the polls a big success,” Al-Madinah newspaper quoted Naqadi as saying. He said additional regulations of the elections will be announced within a few days.
A UN team earlier reviewed election preparations including its executive bylaw, registration of candidates, voter restrictions, election panels, technical aspects, time schedule and supervision.
The elections are to pick half the members of 178 municipal councils in the Kingdom’s 13 regions. Elections in the Riyadh region will be conducted in the first phase.
According to Okaz daily, 15 prominent figures in Makkah are expected to file their nominations to contest the elections. They include businessman Abdul Rahman Faqeeh, Dr. Rashid Al-Rajih, Adel Kaaki, Abdul Rahman Al-Subaie, Mansour Abu Rayyash, Turki Ahmed Badr and Ziyad Farsy.
Public awareness campaigns on the elections will be carried out in September and October. The ministry has barred candidates from using mosques and other public places for election propaganda.
