JEDDAH, 2 February 2005 — A panel of experts has rejected an appeal by 11 district chiefs (umdas) in the Riyadh region urging authorities to revoke a decision taken by the General Election Commission (GEC) barring them and their deputies from contesting the upcoming municipal council elections.
The panel said the GEC decision based on existing regulations was taken in the public interest. “Umdas and their deputies are part of the security machinery and are prevented by law from taking any other public or private jobs. So the same conditions that bar military officers from taking part in the polls will be applied on them,” it added.
District chiefs play a support role in the election process as they endorse certificates of candidates to prove that they reside in regions where they contest elections. “These attestations must be made by people who do not have any special interest in order to ensure impartiality,” the panel said.
The panel, which is set up to look into complaints of voters and candidates, pointed out that the GEC decision was taken before the publication of the final list of candidates. Some umdas who had started campaigning for the polls before the final list of candidates was out said they suffered financial loss as a result of the decision.
The Election Commission announced a decision on Thursday barring governors, mayors, district chiefs and their deputies from contesting municipal elections or being nominated to municipal councils “because of their duties for the state and the nature of their jobs.” The announcement was made by Muhammad Al-Nigadi, the commission spokesman.
The 11 of 18 disgruntled umdas recently met at the house of Sultan Al-Otaibi, the umda of Casablanca district, to discuss how to overturn the decision. Ahmad Al-Otaibi, the umda of Areeja and Wadi Laban districts, said the ban came as a surprise as most umdas in the region had been mustering support for their candidacy during the past two months. The decision will affect some 698 umdas across the Kingdom.
