The semi-elected municipal councils in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have four to 14 members each, according to Prince Mansour Bin Miteb, chairman of the general election committee. He said big cities such as Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah would have 14 members. Half the members of 178 municipal councils in the Kingdom's 13 regions will be picked in the landmark nationwide elections which are to be held in three stages beginning from Feb. 10, while the other half will be named by the government, the chief election officer said. According to a report carried by Al-Jazirah Arabic newspaper, municipal councils in Taif, Al-Ahsa, Buraidah, Abha, Hail, Tabuk, Jizan, Baha, Najran, Al-Jouf and the Northern Border Province will have 12 members while those in Khamis Mushait, Unaizah, Alkharj, Hafr Al-Baten and Yanbu will have 10 members. The councils in governorates (muhafedas) and centers (marakiz) will have six to eight members while rural centers will have four members, the newspaper said.
