RIYADH: The Mayor of Riyadh has said that his municipal constituencies have all the facilities in place and are fully prepared for women to vote and run for election to municipal councils. Abdul Aziz Bin Ayyaf told Al-Watan Arabic daily that while the procedures are possible in Riyadh, his office has “no legislative jurisdiction to take such a decision”. “Approval must come from the legislative authorities,” he said. Bin Ayyaf's remarks come less than a month after the chairman of the Municipal Election Committee announced that women would not be permitted to vote or run for office in this year's election due to a “lack of preparation at polling stations and in the election process”. Abdul Rahman Al-Dhamash told the press at the end of March that “this year women will not have the right to vote or stand as candidates”, but added that “it might be permitted in future elections”. “There is no law barring women from running for election in the councils or taking part in the voting and election process,” Al-Dhamash said. “The law makes no distinction between women and men”. Instead their involvement, he said, depends on “preparations and facilities”. On the work of municipal councils generally, Mayor Bin Ayyaf said that public expectations were too high, although their work had “proven a success”. “They should be granted more extensive powers and the scope of their services should be widened,” he said. “I think the public is more aware this time round, and candidates will think twice before making campaign promises.” New rules for this year's elections include a clampdown on personal promises. Saudi Gazette reported legal adviser Muhammad Al-Mutairi as saying that new regulations would end some practices seen in previous elections campaigns, “such as promises to grant land or give houses or pay for voters' children to study abroad”. Al-Mutairi advised all running candidates to “read the new rules carefully”. “The rules say that all candidate pledges in election campaigns must concern only the jurisdiction of the municipality,” he said. Elections to the municipal councils were first held in 2005. The second elections, for which voter and candidate registration takes place in the coming weeks, are scheduled to be held in September.
