JEDDAH: Although the race to the presidential elections in the US is still in its beginnings, both Saudi male and female students have shown an early interest in the electoral process since the announcement of candidates and the start of the presidential primary elections last February, which will continue until November, a local publication reported.

Social networking sites have witnessed significant interaction of Saudi students in the US, expressing their views and opinions on the American candidates and their parties, and who deserves to be the next American president.

In an opinion survey conducted by one publication which polled Saudi students on their views of the electoral process, it showed that the majority of the students forecast a victory in favor of Democratic candidates.

Others hope that Bernie Sanders, in particular, will win the presidential election because he cares more for the poor and middle-class citizens, and always fights the rich class for what he claims is financial corruption.

Ghasan Jamil, the head of a group calling itself “Saudis in America,” a student group of more than 100,000 followers inside and outside the US, was quoted as saying by the publication: “A large group of Saudis here is interested in the elections and is closely following up on its updates; some students actually attended some of the primary election campaigns for the two parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, out of sheer curiosity.”

He said: “Our interest in particular is to learn whether the candidate would be interested in cooperating with the Middle East, and mainly Saudi Arabia, at political and economic levels.

“Saudis here are very cautious about asking American citizens who their favorite candidate is.”