JEDDAH, 24 April 2006 — A group of defeated candidates from last year’s municipal elections yesterday asked the judge at the Court of Grievance to revoke the ministerial rule appointing the members to the Jeddah Municipal Council.
Their argument is that the case is still in court and so the members’ legality is still in question. The council started its work on Dec. 27 when they elected a president among themselves.
Representatives from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs were at the hearing to present to the judge their defense arguments.
Yesterday was the fourth hearing since the case found its way to the Court of Grievance eight months ago. The first hearing was scheduled for Sept. 19, but representatives of the ministry’s appeals committee failed to appear. The hearing was rescheduled for Nov. 15, and, again, nobody from the committee showed up. The ministry argued that the court was not qualified to look at the case. The court responded by rescheduling the hearing to Feb. 28. Then, the ministry asked the court to grant more time for the appeals committee to formulate a proper response. The hearing was then rescheduled to yesterday.
The defeated candidates formed a coalition to challenge the results in court, as they believe that the endorsement by certain religious scholars ensured that their opponents won the first municipal elections in the country in over 40 years.
Yesterday the judge did not comment on the case, but said he would look at it and deliver his judgment at a later, unspecified, date.
