JEDDAH: Prince Mansour Bin Meteb Bin Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, supports women's involvement in next year's elections for the country's national Municipal Council – even though there is no official approval yet for women to stand as candidates or to vote. “I don't mind women taking part in the upcoming elections,” he remarked last week during a press conference at his office. He did not elaborate on his comment. Prince Mansour was referring to the 2011 elections for the 178-member Municipal Council, which draws its members from the country's major cities – Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Makkah. The Municipal Council reports directly to him as minister. Elections for the Municipal Council first took place in 2005. Opposition to women voting and standing as candidates has come mainly from Jeddah and Makkah's local council members. A major opponent is Abdul Muhsen Bin Aal Al-Sheikh, the head of Makkah's council. Al-Watan daily has recently reported that Aal Al-Sheikh said that “the technicality and physicality of the Council's job does not suit a woman”. He suggested that women should only seek to establish social councils dealing only with women's issues.
