Saudi- 20 women file nomination for civic poll

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: A number of businesswomen are preparing to participate in the different stages of the election process to select members of municipality councils.
So far about 20 candidates from Jeddah and Makkah have applied for nominations and the number is likely to increase in the coming weeks local media reported.
According to Naila Attar an activist and coordinator of the Baladi Initiative in Jeddah the initiative intends to launch an awareness campaign on the details and nature of the municipal elections during the month of Shawwal.
'The plan will also include programs to familiarize participants with the election process and show them how to choose and vote for those who will best represent them' she added noting that the plan will involve other programs to qualify the candidates on how to run an election campaign.
Attar said the awareness campaign will focus on introducing data and information about the elections and the 11 committees of the municipal council some of which include the infrastructure tourism and investment financial and lands and the outreach committees.
She said the awareness plan involves knowing the cognitive aspects in relation to taking decisions drafting the election platform addressing the public dealing with constituencies mechanisms of communicating with the relevant bodies and how to deal with infringements and rumors.
'The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs should consider allocating seats for women by appointing qualified women and experienced leaders in this field in particular' she pointed out.
On a related issue the General Committee for Municipal Elections started preparations for the kick-off of the third municipal elections in the Kingdom on the 7th of Dhul Qadah by holding training workshops to familiarize the public with the two phases of registering voters and candidates.
Workshops aim to train people within local committees so they in turn can train the heads and members of committees at election centers within the scope of each local committee across the Kingdom. The number of local committees stands at 16.
Judai Al-Qahtani spokesman for the General Committee of the Municipal Elections said the number of trainers participating in the workshops amounted to 113.
'The training workshops held in Riyadh for five days discussed two basic pillars of the election process: the registration of voters and candidates. The discussions focused on explaining the organizational provisions and the procedural rules for registering voters and candidates the terms and conditions governing the voter and candidate processes prohibitions on the nomination the forms and tables used and other details' said the spokesman.
He said the workshops also explained the mechanisms on how to register handicapped and ailing people.