MAKKAH: The Ministry of Commerce suspended the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) elections until further notice, citing violations in some commercial registrations.
The MCCI said voting took place till late yesterday before the suspension was announced. The results of the elections was to be announced yesterday after voting had been completed. But before that the process was suspended.
About 5,000 businessmen and women took part in the voting at Marbia Palace in Makkah over the last two days to elect new members to the board of directors of the MCCI.
The candidates running for seats on the 10-member chamber board were mainly from three lists: The Makkah Group, the Ahl and the Change and Reformation Group. The first day of voting was exclusively for women voters while businessmen cast their votes yesterday.
The voting was held in a tense atmosphere after heated campaigning by some of the contestants. Only 448 out of 800 registered women voters were able to vote. The rest, numbering 352, were not qualified because their commercial licenses did not meet the stipulated conditions.
“Many of the women voters didn’t know anything about the programs of the candidates and some of them had no knowledge of the voting process at all,” one businesswoman told Arab News.
She said many of them voted only to please their relatives and acquaintances on the lists. “None of the lists had a precise program on how to serve the chamber or the city’s business community that would entice us to give them our votes,” she added.
Huwaidah Gazzaz, a member of the women’s committee in the chamber, said she voted for the Makkah Group because of her personal ties with the candidates on the list. “I find them to be understanding, in a way they are positively biased toward us and are serving Makkah even by setting up projects at their personal expense,” she said.
Gazzaz described Adil Kaaki, a candidate on the list of the Makkah Group, as a capable man who is discreet in his dealings with people. “He never let me down or refused any of my requests,” she added.
Fatima Abdul Haq, who had a commercial registration for more than 30 years, said she supported the Makkah Group because its candidates were “honest and true to themselves.”
Mahfouz bin Marie said the voting in the early part of the day went smoothly without any problems or complaints. He urged all businessmen, businesswomen and industrialists in Makkah to close ranks to serve the holy city.
