“The establishments applying for licenses should provide details about them, including whether they have any tie-up with local or foreign promotion establishments currently or in the past two years,” Chairman of the General Commission for Municipal Elections Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmesh said in a statement.
“The establishments should also supply the names of the workers in their companies specifying their qualifications and nationalities. The owner of the company should submit his biometric data as well.”
A circular on this matter has been sent to all subcommittees of the Election Commission after getting approval from Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mansour bin Miteb, Al-Dahmesh added.
“Close to 600 public relations agencies are likely to apply for licensing, hoping to obtain a share of the campaign market, which has an approximate market value of SR100 million,” Khaled Hasnawi, who runs a public relations company in Jeddah, told Arab News on Wednesday.
Hasnawi also stressed the need for regulating the campaign market in order to avoid illegal or unethical practices used to promote candidates. However, he added that personal connections rather than promotions would have considerable influence in many regions.
