RIYADH, 5 December 2004 — Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, said the decision to hold municipal elections has put Saudi Arabia in the company of developed countries that have adopted universal suffrage.
The prince was speaking to mediapersons after registering himself as a voter at the Mather branch of Riyadh Municipality yesterday. He was the 165th voter to register at the electoral office. There are 170 such offices in the Riyadh region where more than 45,000 voters have already got their polling cards during the first nine days of the registration period.
Among the dignitaries who registered at the office included Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Turki Al-Faisal and Assistant Deputy Minister for Defense and Aviation Prince Khaled ibn Sultan.
“Municipal elections are stepping stones for major elections,” said Prince Alwaleed calling on every citizen to come out to register himself and cast his ballot at the polls.
Answering a question from Arab News about women’s rights, the prince said: “We are advocating women’s rights as envisioned in Islam. We are seeing very strong indications these days where women are taking their positions in society and performing their duties.”
Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs Ahmad Al-Tuwaijri said voter response during the first nine days of the campaign was encouraging. “In the capital alone, we have registered 20,000 voters and this is likely to pick up during the next 21 days due to intensive media coverage,” he said.
The registration center is open from 4.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. during weekdays.
“We have deployed a special team of staff to cope with the anticipated rush of registrants during the latter part of the campaign,” Dr. Musaad Al-Masbahi, the manager of Voters’ Registration Center, told Arab News, adding that although the closing time of the registration is fixed at 9.30 p.m. this would be extended to accommodate all people who walk in for registration.
According to Dr. Masbahi, registration of voters will end on Jan. 21 and subsequently nomination of candidates will be open for a week. The elections in the Riyadh region are scheduled to be held on Feb. 10.
