Amid calls for voting boycott, only 200,000 registered for municipal elections

Riyadh: Though 16 days passed since the start of voter registration for municipal elections due to begin September 22, official figures show that only 200,000 voters have registered their names.

Registration will close on May 19. For the previous elections held in 2005, some 800,000 voters have registered.

Ahmad Al Tuwaijri, deputy mayor of Riyadh for municipal affairs, who is a member of the local committee for municipal elections in Riyadh, said in 2005 elections there were 67 election centres across 37 constituencies and 63,410 have voted in Riyadh.

This year, there are 70 election centres in 47 constituencies, he added.

Meanwhile, Makkah's media committee for campaign has sent one million mobile messages (SMS) urging people to vote in the elections and reminding them of important dates like the last date for voter registration, phases for candidates' registration and voting day.

Osman Abu Bakr Mali, head of the media and awareness team, noted that the Makkah committee is the only one to enlighten voters.

For his part, Abul Rahman Al Dahmash, supervisor-general of the office of the minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and chairman of the general committee of the election, said reforms will be made gradually on the structure and performance of municipal councils.

He said based on our previous experience high turnout will be seen during the last phase of the registration process, he added.

In a related development, more than 90 Saudi activists have called for boycotting the elections.

"Following shortcomings in the 2005 elections and repeat of the same shortcomings, we are calling for a boycott," the activists said in a statement posted on the Internet.

Women not allowed

They justified their call to the fact that the municipal councils lack the authorities that enable them to perform their tasks in an active way. They also added that the councils are not financially and administratively independent, half of their members were appointed and women were not allowed to take part in them.

They also pointed out that carrying on with the elections without correcting these shortcomings runs contrary to the concept of democracy and people's participation in the decision-making process.

Saudi Arabia held its first municipal election in 2005, when half of the 178 municipal councils' members were elected nationwide. In May 2009, the expired term of the councils was extended for two years.