DAMMAM/RIYADH: As the end of the first six-year term for elected municipal council members approaches its end, councilors in the Eastern Province have said that “no more than 60 percent” of the electoral promises they made have been fulfilled. “There have been a lot of candidates who, once elected, broke a lot of promises, a lot of them big ones,” one council member said. “Only around 60 percent of promises were carried through, although that percentage is regarded as high by some observers given the facts on the ground.” Council member Ihsan Abdul Jawwad said that a number of reasons explained the figure. “The biggest problem is that a lot of candidates when running for election have no idea of the nature of work of the municipal councils or their areas of jurisdiction,” he said. “Some of them go a bit over the top with their promises as well.” Chairman of the Qatif Municipal Council Ja'afar Al-Shayeib put the figure of promise-fulfillment at his council at “no more than 50 percent”. “We have had reasonable success in the region's councils during the first term, and with the second term beginning in the near future I expect things will improve,” he said. A nationwide report on municipal council members, meanwhile, has revealed 39 out of the total 1212 councilors across the Kingdom went no further in their education than primary school. The report stated that most council members – 601 or 49.7 percent – held bachelor's degrees, 140 or 11.7 percent had diplomas from various institutions, while 72 councilors, or 5.9 percent, successfully finished secondary school. Hundred and seven members hold doctorates, according to the report, 29 master's degrees and 35 other educational qualifications. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has introduced set conditions for aspiring candidates in the next elections which state that they must be Saudi nationals or nationalized persons for at least ten years. They must be over the age of 25 and resident in the districts for which they choose to run for election for the period of their terms. It is also required that they have no criminal record or any connection to cases involving fraudulent bankruptcy. Another condition states they “must be able to read and write proficiently”. Voter registration for the municipal council elections begins on April 22 and is open for 27 days, with the six days for candidate registration starting on May 28. The actual voting in municipal elections is scheduled to take place on Sept. 22. Councilors are voted in for six-year terms of office.
