Officials at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said municipal council members should be elected with the participation of women and the councils should have more authority and jurisdiction, according to Prince Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Muhammad Bin Ayaf, Mayor of Riyadh. Municipal Councils' jurisdictions and authority are increased further with each election and in the end these increases are all in the interest of service and municipal work, said Prince Dr. Bin Ayaf, who is also Chairman of the Local Committee for Municipal Elections. “Personally I think municipal councils are very important because they back municipalities' work,” he said. “They represent the voice of the citizens whose participation in decision-making is significant.” Chairing the committee's 10th meeting held at the weekend, Prince Dr. Bin Ayaf noted the city is ready for next week's voting day. “Election centers have completed their preparations and rehearsals for voting and counting,” he said. Addressing the issue of the local committee's approval for publishing candidates' biographies on the Mayor's Office website, which was not implemented, he said the idea behind publishing the information is that voters should have the right to get acquainted with all candidates through available means. “We think they should be introduced also on television,” said Prince Dr. Bin Ayaf, adding that the biographies were not published because the General Committee for Municipal Elections has “certain viewpoints” about it. He said that among the ideas and proposals submitted to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs was a suggestion that every electoral district should have a public forum where candidates and voters can interact with each other. Some candidates' campaigns started Sunday and there were some violations related to signs being posted, but they have since been removed, Prince Dr. Bin Ayaf said. “Municipal elections are new to society and to candidates,” he said.
